Albert Camus Quotes

“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.”

“To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.”

“And never have I felt so deeply at one and the same time so detached from myself and so present in the world.”

“Peace is the only battle worth waging.”

“Camus himself described this work as 'an attempt to understand the time I live in'.”

“In normal times all of us know, whether consciously or not, that there is no love which can't be bettered; nevertheless, we reconcile ourselves more or less easily to the fact that ours has never risen above the average.”

“Mon cher ami, let's not give them any pretext, no matter how small, for judging us!!! Otherwise, we'll be left in shreds. We are forced to take the same precautions as the animal trainer. If, before going into the cage, he has the misfortune to cut himself while shaving, what a feast for the wild animals!!”

“And then came human beings; humans wanted to cling but there was nothing to cling to.”

“One dies if necessary, one breaks rather than bending. But I bend, because I continue to love myself.”

“I do not want to found anything on the incomprehensible. I want to know whether I can live with what I know and with that alone.”

“Those who write clearly have readers.”

“Every great work makes the human face more admirable and richer, and this is its whole secret.”

“Thus, in a middle course between these heights and depths, they drifted through life rather than lived, the prey of aimless days and sterile memories, like wandering shadows that could have acquired substance only by consenting to root themselves in the solid earth of their distress.”

“Any country where I am not bored is a country that teaches me nothing.”

“[Many artists], even the greatest ones, are not sure of their own existence. So they search for proof, they judge, they condemn. It strengthens them, it is the beginnings of existence. They are alone!”

“Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but “steal” some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”

“Who taught you all this, doctor?" The reply came promptly: "Suffering.”

“From the evening breeze to this hand on my shoulder, everything has its truth.”

“Stupidity has a knack of getting its way.”

“The harshest winter finds an invincible summer in us.”

“I have never been able to renounce the light, the pleasure of being, and the freedom in which I grew up.”

“There exists an obvious fact that seems utterly moral: namely, that a man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them. One has to pay something. A man who has become conscious of the absurd is forever bound to it.”

“The end of their passion consists of loving uselessly at the moment when it is pointless.”

“Men cry because things are not what they ought to be.”

“I hope the dogs don't bark tonight. I always think it's mine”