Full Idea
Life must not be a novel that is given to us, but one that is made by us.
Gist of Idea
Life isn't given to us like a novel - we write the novel
Source
Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 99)
Book Reference
Novalis: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Stoljar,M.M. [SUNY 1997], p.66
A Reaction
The roots of existentialism are in the Romantic movement. Sartre seems to have taken this idea literally.