Existence Precedes Essence

Sartre believes that there is no 'meaning of life' that we are going to find. That we are responsible for giving our lives its meaning.

"Life has no meaning a priori...It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose."
                                           --Jean-Paul Sartre

 We were given the example of a paper-cutter. The paper-cutter is the essence and the something to cut paper is the existence.