Please give the meaning of this quote by Jean Paul Sartre?

Question

"Man (and woman) is nothing else than what s/he makes of him/herself." (Ultimately, you are not what you believe about yourself, or even think yourself to be or even what others think of you; but you are what you do, or don't do.

Answer 1

Interestingly enough, we discussed Sartre in class today.
When he said,
"I am not what I am. I am what I am not."
He was talking partially about humans in time.
1. What we are is not fixed by what we were yesterday or ten years ago. We are as much what we plan to be, as what we were.
2. You are not wholly defined by any particular thing. For example; a gambler, a waiter, a secretary. Defining yourself as (pick one) a gambler, puts you in the category of a thing. Sartre maintained that people are the opposite of things.
Furthermore, he claimed that only the individual can decide what is important to him/her.
Making that decision... choosing... (big thought and lots of air in my brain ;) )
To choose is to affirm. Your action determines what matters to you, not your speeches.

Good luck and enjoy!

Answer 2

John Paul Sarte was an existentialist. He's simply saying that one is only what one makes of one's self. In other words, you weren't born or destined to be a specific something. You are what you make yourself.

Answer 3

These philosophies are well known:

To be is to do -- Plato
To do is to be -- Sartre
Do be do be do -- Sinatra
Do be a do bee, don't be a don't be -- Romper Room.

At the heart of existentialism is that only we are capable of making meaning of our own lives -- and we do it by doing.

Answer 4

I think you answered your question - everyone starts as a blank slate and is defined by their acts and/or omissions.