Existentialism Is a Humanism, lecture http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/sartre/works/exist/sartre.htm (1946)
Context: We will freedom for freedom’s sake, in and through particular circumstances. And in thus willing freedom, we discover that it depends entirely upon the freedom of others and that the freedom of others depends upon our own. Obviously, freedom as the definition of a man does not depend upon others, but as soon as there is a commitment, I am obliged to will the liberty of others at the same time as my own. I cannot make liberty my aim unless I make that of others equally my aim.
“Our words change dependent upon the circumstances and to whom we are engaging. One’s tone is soft addressing a child; professional interacting with a colleague; and deliberative within an atmosphere of debate.”
2009
Related quotes
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.”
Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52 (3 March 1919).
1910s
1990s, Victory speech (1994)
Context: The calm and tolerant atmosphere that prevailed during the elections depicts the type of South Africa we can build. It set the tone for the future. We might have our differences, but we are one people with a common destiny in our rich variety of culture, race and tradition.
People have voted for the party of their choice and we respect that. This is democracy.
I hold out a hand of friendship to the leaders of all parties and their members, and ask all of them to join us in working together to tackle the problems we face as a nation. An ANC government will serve all the people of South Africa, not just ANC members.
Wir müssen wissen — wir werden wissen!
Address to the Society of German Scientists and Physicians, in Königsberg (8 September 1930). The concluding statement was used as the epitaph on his tomb in Göttingen. Radio broadcast of the address http://math.sfsu.edu/smith/Documents/HilbertRadio/HilbertRadio.mp3, and transcription and English translation http://math.sfsu.edu/smith/Documents/HilbertRadio/HilbertRadio.pdf.
The Ethics of Belief (1877), The Weight Of Authority
Context: What shall we say of that authority, more venerable and august than any individual witness, the time-honoured tradition of the human race? An atmosphere of beliefs and conceptions has been formed by the labours and struggles of our forefathers, which enables us to breathe amid the various and complex circumstances of our life. It is around and about us and within us; we cannot think except in the forms and processes of thought which it supplies. Is it possible to doubt and to test it? and if possible, is it right?
We shall find reason to answer that it is not only possible and right, but our bounden duty; that the main purpose of the tradition itself is to supply us with the means of asking questions, of testing and inquiring into things; that if we misuse it, and take it as a collection of cut-and-dried statements to be accepted without further inquiry, we are not only injuring ourselves here, but, by refusing to do our part towards the building up of the fabric which shall be inherited by our children, we are tending to cut off ourselves and our race from the human line.
Letter to William Cabell (6 May 1783)
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 231.
Source: Existentialism Is a Humanism (1946), pp. 51-52
“The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.”
Source: Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts (1848), p. 146