Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Albert Camus Novelist

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: France
  • Born: Nov 7, 1913
  • Died: Jan 4, 1960

Albert Camus was a French Nobel Prize winning author, journalist, and philosopher. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He wrote in his essay "The Rebel" that his whole life was devoted to opposing the philosophy of nihilism while still delving deeply into individual freedom.

Camus did not consider himself to be an existentialist despite usually being classified as one, even during his own lifetime. In an interview in 1945, Camus rejected any ideological associations: "No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked...".

Camus was born in French Algeria to a Pied-Noir family, and studied at the University of Algiers. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement after his split with Garry Davis's Citizens of the World movement. The formation of this group, according to Camus, was intended to "denounce two ideologies found in both the USSR and the USA" regarding their idolatry of technology.

A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad. freedom & good

We continue to shape our personality all our life. If we knew ourselves perfectly, we should die. life

You cannot create experience. You must undergo it. experience

The only real progress lies in learning to be wrong all alone. alone & learning

A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing. truth

Man wants to live, but it is useless to hope that this desire will dictate all his actions. hope

Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears. inspirational & men

It's a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money. money

It is normal to give away a little of one's life in order not to lose it all. life

Your successes and happiness are forgiven you only if you generously consent to share them. happiness

An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself. intelligence

To abandon oneself to principles is really to die - and to die for an impossible love which is the contrary of love. love

By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more. government

How can sincerity be a condition of friendship? A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing. friendship & truth

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. nature

We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love - first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage. love

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. nature

Without freedom, no art art lives only on the restraints it imposes on itself, and dies of all others. art & freedom

Man is an idea, and a precious small idea once he turns his back on love. love

The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm. war

Ah, mon cher, for anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful. alone & God

Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies. life & work

We turn toward God only to obtain the impossible. God

When you have really exhausted an experience you always reverence and love it. experience & love

A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession. art & work

Don't walk behind me I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. friendship

Real nobility is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference. courage

Alas, after a certain age every man is responsible for his face. age

The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth. truth

All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State. power

To know oneself, one should assert oneself. motivational

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. freedom

It is a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money. finance & money

He who despairs of the human condition is a coward, but he who has hope for it is a fool. hope

As a remedy to life in society I would suggest the big city. Nowadays, it is the only desert within our means. life & society

I know of only one duty, and that is to love. love

Culture: the cry of men in face of their destiny. men

The society based on production is only productive, not creative. society

Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear. fear & respect

To be famous, in fact, one has only to kill one's landlady. famous

Men are never really willing to die except for the sake of freedom: therefore they do not believe in dying completely. freedom & men

To insure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough, a police force is needed as well. faith & time

There will be no lasting peace either in the heart of individuals or in social customs until death is outlawed. death & peace

Blessed are the hearts that can bend they shall never be broken. moving on

Retaliation is related to nature and instinct, not to law. Law, by definition, cannot obey the same rules as nature. nature

Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object. truth

Men are convinced of your arguments, your sincerity, and the seriousness of your efforts only by your death. death & men

Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it. courage

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. future

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? happiness & life

We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives... inside ourselves. war

There is the good and the bad, the great and the low, the just and the unjust. I swear to you that all that will never change. change, good & great