The hardest constraints to overcome are those within oneself

Evidence

But the most difficult constraints to overcome are those that one finds in oneself: then the adventure of freedom is the most uncertain, the most poignant, and the most piquant. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 613

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the freedom/constraint axis central to Beauvoir’s existentialist apparatus — external vs internal obstacles to transcendence.
• XREF: Connects to Sartre’s bad faith and the internalized Other from earlier chapters, and foreshadows the ethics of ambiguity. — connects to: Freedom depends on overcoming negativity and constraint — Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society, 147; Innate qualities constrain but do not abolish freedom within a situation — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 717; Overcoming is marked by choosing difficulty, not by worldly accomplishment — Chuck Missler, The Kingdom, Power and Glory: The…, 131

Broader Connections

• Freedom depends on overcoming negativity and constraint #expands (0.72) — Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society, 147
• Innate qualities constrain but do not abolish freedom within a situation #qualifies (0.72) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 717