“In life man commits himself and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing. No doubt this thought may seem harsh to someone who has not made a success of his life. But on the other hand, it helps people to understand that reality alone counts, and that dreams, expectations and hopes only serve to define a man as a broken dream, aborted hopes, and futile expectations.”

French philosopher, political activist, and writer

Jean-Paul Sartre was a French philosopher, political activist, and writer. He was a leading figure in 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism, and one of the central thinkers associated with existentialism. He also supported Libertarian Marxism, and his work went on to shape sociology, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and literary studies. In 1964, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he tried to refuse it, saying that he usually declined official honors and that a writer should not become an institution.