Bite Now, Before Your Teeth Are Gone: Sartre's Warning to Perfectionists
Glen Brunke, December 1, 2024Another quote that I'm pondering today:
I have led a toothless life. [...] I have never bitten into anything. I was waiting. I was reserving myself for later on—and I have just noticed that my teeth have gone.
― Jean-Paul Sartre, The Age of Reason
The idea of "reserving oneself" for the perfect opportunity often leads to never truly committing to anything. Just as the character above, Mathieu, realizes his "teeth have gone" while waiting, someone might find their energy, time, or opportunities have slipped away while waiting for the ideal project or career path. The metaphor of biting is particularly apt because it implies active engagement - you have to physically close your jaw, commit to the bite. You can't passively bite into something.
Many people spend their lives preparing - reading about things, planning things, thinking about things - but never actually doing them. There's a kind of safety in never fully committing to anything. If you never really bite down, you can't break your teeth, can't fail spectacularly, can't make the wrong choice. But this safety comes at the cost of never truly experiencing anything either.
The tragic part of the quote is the timing of the realization - discovering your teeth are gone only after spending a lifetime preserving them. It's like saving your favorite clothes for a special occasion that never comes, only to find they no longer fit.
Think of any skill or profession - writing, programming, art, business. The people who master these fields aren't usually the ones who spent years preparing for the perfect moment to start. They're the ones who started biting into projects, maybe clumsily at first, but with real commitment and engagement.
Stop Waiting. Start Biting. Bite into that project, that skill, that dream. We might feel clumsy, unsure, or even fail. But the act of biting down—of doing—will teach us far more than endless preparation ever could.
One more before we go...
For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: It might have been!
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller