Albert Camus Quotes

He discovered the cruel paradox by which we always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love — first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.

Idleness is only fatal to the mediocre.

Fate is not in man but around him.

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

Happiness implied a choice, and within that choice a concerted will, a lucid desire.

He marveled at the strange blindness by which men, though they are so alert to what changes in themselves, impose on their friends an image chosen for them once and for all. He was being judged by what he had been. Just as dogs don't change character, men are dogs to one another.

Believe me, there is no such thing as great suffering, great regret, great memory...Everything is forgotten, even great love.

To have time was at once the most magnificent and the most dangerous of experiments. Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre.

It takes time to live. Like any work of art, life needs to be thought about.

It's better to bet on this life than on the next.

Having money is a way of being free of money.

Avoir de l'argent c'est se libérer de l'argent.

Only it takes time to be happy. A lot of time. Happiness, too, is a long patience.

Seulement, il faut du temps pour être heureux. Beaucoup de temps. Le bonheur lui aussi est une longue patience.

The direction of the world overwhelms me at this time. In the long run, all the continents (yellow, black and brown) will spill over onto Old Europe. They are hundreds and hundreds of millions. They are hungry and they are not afraid to die. We no longer know how to die or how to kill. We could preach, but Europe believes in nothing. So, we must wait for the year 1000 or a miracle. For my part, I find it harder and harder to live before a wall.