Jean-Paul Sartre and the Burden of Choice

You know, there's an interesting story from Sartre's life, which actually illustrates the point quite well. It's during the Nazi occupation of France, and one of Sartre's old students comes up to him and he says, "Jean-Paul, Jean-Paul, I need, I need some help. My brother has been killed by the Nazis, and I desperately want to join the French Resistance. But also, I feel I need to look after my mother who's at home. What? What should I do?"

And Jean-Paul paused for a bit, and he looked at him and said, "You are free. Therefore choose. And that is to say, invent." Now, Sartre could see straightaway what was going on. He knew that this student was trying to outsource his decision making to him. He wanted to become a leaf blown in the wind, because that's easier.

But what Sartre knew was that he was also existentially unhappier. Because when you go along with what somebody else tells you, whether that's a teacher, a parent, or even a rule system, then you come to resent them. You resent the life that you are forced to live. And for Sartre, at least, it's better to regret a life that you have chosen than to resent a life that has been forced upon you.