Writing of her youth in Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter she said: "...my father's individualism and pagan ethical standards were in complete contrast to the rigidly moral conventionalism of my mother's teaching.
Pišući o svojoj mladosti u Uspomenama dobro odgojene djevojke, de Beauvoir je zamijetila: "...individualizam mojeg oca i poganski etički standardi bili su u potpunoj suprotnosti s rigidnim moralnim konvencionalizmom učenja moje majke.