Albert Camus Quotes

Albert Camus was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. He is best known for his philosophical works, such as "The Myth of Sisyphus" and "The Rebel," and his novels, including "The Stranger" and "The Plague." Camus' existentialist philosophy and examination of the human condition continue to resonate with readers around the world.

Violence is both unavoidable and unjustifiable.... -Albert Camus

Violence is both unavoidable and unjustifiable.

I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.

By definition, a government has no conscience. Som... -Albert Camus

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

To be famous, in fact, one has only to kill one's ... -Albert Camus

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

Discovering the context

The quote employs dark humor to suggest that committing a notorious or infamous act, such as killing one's landlady, can lead to fame, implying the absurdity or warped values associated with the pursuit of celebrity status.

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

At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures - be what he is. And, above all, accept these things.

It is not your paintings I like, it is your painti... -Albert Camus

It is not your paintings I like, it is your painting.

Men must live and create. Live to the point of tea... -Albert Camus

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

Discovering the context

This quote emphasizes the need for individuals to actively engage in life, fully experiencing and expressing their emotions, and pursuing creative endeavors with passion and intensity.

In order to understand the world, one has to turn ... -Albert Camus

In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.

Martyrs, my friend, have to choose between being forgotten, mocked or used. As for being understood - never.

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

After all manner of professors have done their best for us, the place we are to get knowledge is in books. The true university of these days is a collection of books.

Every great work makes the human face more admirab... -Albert Camus

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

In order to speak about all and to all, one has to speak of what all know and of the reality common to us all. The sea, rains, necessity, desire, the struggle against death... these are things that unite us all.

Working conditions for me have always been those of the monastic life: solitude and frugality. Except for frugality, they are contrary to my nature, so much so that work is a violence I do to myself.

The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. For the moment, it is all that links them together.

Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.

Alas, after a certain age every man is responsible... -Albert Camus

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

The society based on production is only productive... -Albert Camus

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

Lying is not only saying what isn't true. It is also, in fact especially, saying more than is true and, in the case of the human heart, saying more than one feels. We all do it, every day, to make life simpler.

The role of the intellectual cannot be to excuse the violence of one side and condemn that of the other.

Integrity has no need of rules.... -Albert Camus

Integrity has no need of rules.

Stupidity has a knack of getting its way.... -Albert Camus

Stupidity has a knack of getting its way.

To cut short the question of the law of retaliation, we must note that even in its primitive form it can operate only between two individuals of whom one is absolutely innocent, and the other absolutely guilty. The victim, to be sure, is innocent. But can the society that is supposed to represent the victim lay claim to innocence?

I was born poor and without religion, under a happy sky, feeling harmony, not hostility, in nature. I began not by feeling torn, but in plenitude.

Every revolutionary ends up either by becoming an ... -Albert Camus

Every revolutionary ends up either by becoming an oppressor or a heretic.

Note, besides, that it is no more immoral to directly rob citizens than to slip indirect taxes into the price of goods that they cannot do without.

The world is never quiet, even its silence eternally resounds with the same notes, in vibrations which escape our ears. As for those that we perceive, they carry sounds to us, occasionally a chord, never a melody.

A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.

Nothing is more despicable than respect based on f... -Albert Camus

Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.

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