What never varies is the necessity for [man] to be in the world, to work in it, to live out his life in it among others, and eventually, to die in it. These limitations are neither subjective nor objective; rather they have an objective as well as subjective dimension: objective, because they affect everyone and are evident everywhere; subjective because they are experienced and are meaningless if man does not experience them– that is to say, if man does not freely determine himself and his existence in relation to them. And, as diverse as man’s projects may be, at least none of them seem wholly foreign to me since each presents itself as an attempt to surpass such limitations, to postpone, deny, or to come to terms with them. Consequently, every project, however individual, has a universal value . . . In this sense, we can claim that human universality exists, but is not a given; it is in perpetual construction.
From Existential is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre
Affording the MFA 