Simone de Beauvoir, the French existentialist philosopher and feminist theorist, wrote this reflection in her 1972 memoir “All Said and Done.” The quote encapsulates her intellectual journey, in which she rejected the predetermined path — marriage, motherhood, domestic life — typically laid out for women. She purposefully abandoned the security of accepted beliefs in pursuit of uncomfortable (and, in some circles, unpopular) truths. She boldly became one of France’s leading intellectuals, partnering with Jean-Paul Sartre as a pioneer of existentialism. The “reward” she describes isn’t fame, wealth, or an easy comfort, but rather the liberation that comes from living authentically and refusing to accept convenient lies — or conventional paths. For her, the search for truth was both frightening and essential, and it ultimately led to freedom.