Albert Camus Quotes

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

[The Minotaur]

A fate is not a punishment.

Absolute freedom mocks at justice. Absolute justice denies freedom. To be fruitful, the two ideas must find their limits in each other.

The opposite of an idealist is too often a man without love.

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

You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question.

Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep

Nous nous trompons toujours deux fois sur ceux que nous aimons: d'abord à leur avantage, puis à leur désavantage.

I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world.

Simone Weil, I maintain this now, is the only great spirit of our times and I hope that those who realize this have enough modesty to not try to appropriate her overwhelming witnessing. For my part, I would be satisfied if one could say that in my place, with the humble means at my disposal, I served to make known and disseminate her work whose full impact we have yet to measure.

Thus I progressed on the surface of life, in the realm of words as it were, never in reality. All those books barely read, those friends barely loved, those cities barely visited, those women barely possessed! I went through the gestures out of boredom or absent-mindedness. Then came the human beings, they wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to, and that was unfortunate – for them. As for me, I forgot. I never remembered anything but myself.

I would like to be able to breathe — to be able to love her by memory or fidelity. But my heart aches. I love you continuously, intensely.

The important thing isn't the soundness or otherwise of the argument, but for it to make you think.

The most elementary form of rebellion, paradoxically, expresses an aspiration for order.

I love life - that’s my real weakness. I love it so much that I am incapable of imagining what is not life.