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98 Famous Quotes By Albert Camus, The Author Of The Stranger

Famous As: Philosopher & Novelist
Born On: November 7, 1913
Died On: January 4, 1960
Born In: Drean, Algeria
Died At Age: 46
Albert Camus was a popular French-Algerian journalist, playwright, novelist and philosophical essayist who was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature. Although a prolific writer, Camus is best remembered till date as a philosopher, despite having no advanced training or knowledge in the profession. This is primarily because of the fact that Albert Camus in his works, made important contribution to a wide range of issues in moral philosophy from terrorism and political violence to suicide and the death penalty. He is often described as an existentialist writer, though he himself disavowed the label. Almost initially in his career, Camus built an international reputation and readership from his novels and philosophical essays. The works introduced to the world and developed the twin philosophical ideas - the concept of the Absurd and the notion of Revolt. It was this idea that made Camus famous as a philosophical giant so much so that whenever these ideas are spoken of, people immediately think of Albert Camus. Same is also visible in his quotes that cover a wide variety of subjects and give people a new perspective and a new outlook to life. Check this section and find out about quotes by Albert Camus.
Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend

Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead Walk beside me… just be my friend

Albert Camus
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

Albert Camus
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

Albert Camus
Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.

Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.

Albert Camus
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

Albert Camus
Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?

Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?

Albert Camus
Live to the point of tears.

Live to the point of tears.

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

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

Albert Camus
But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

Albert Camus
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

Albert Camus
When I look at my life and its secret colours, I feel like bursting into tears.

When I look at my life and its secret colours, I feel like bursting into tears.

Albert Camus
Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.

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

Albert Camus
Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.

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

Albert Camus
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

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

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

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

Albert Camus
I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn't.

I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn't.

Albert Camus
Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.

Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.

Albert Camus
The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.

The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.

Albert Camus
I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world.

I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world.

Albert Camus
I used to advertise my loyalty and I don't believe there is a single person I loved that I didn't eventually betray.

I used to advertise my loyalty and I don't believe there is a single person I loved that I didn't eventually betray.

Albert Camus
At the heart of all beauty lies something inhuman.

At the heart of all beauty lies something inhuman.

Albert Camus
Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth

Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth

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

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

Albert Camus
When the soul suffers too much, it develops a taste for misfortune.

When the soul suffers too much, it develops a taste for misfortune.

Albert Camus
I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist.

I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist.

Albert Camus
Do not wait for the last judgment. It comes every day.

Do not wait for the last judgment. It comes every day.

Albert Camus
People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves.

People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves.

Albert Camus
I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.

I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.

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

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

Albert Camus
Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.

Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.

Albert Camus
I had only a little time left and I didn't want to waste it on God.

I had only a little time left and I didn't want to waste it on God.

Albert Camus
There is not love of life without despair about life.

There is not love of life without despair about life.

Albert Camus
Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.

Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.

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

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

Albert Camus
It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.

It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.

Albert Camus
Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter.

Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter.

Albert Camus
Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.

Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.

Albert Camus
If something is going to happen to me, I want to be there.

If something is going to happen to me, I want to be there.

Albert Camus
Life can be magnificent and overwhelming -- that is the whole tragedy. Without beauty, love, or danger it would almost be easy to live.

Life can be magnificent and overwhelming -- that is the whole tragedy. Without beauty, love, or danger it would almost be easy to live.

Albert Camus
What is a rebel? A man who says no.

What is a rebel? A man who says no.

Albert Camus
Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.

Albert Camus
There is scarcely any passion without struggle.

There is scarcely any passion without struggle.

Albert Camus
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre.

Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre.

Albert Camus
You can't create experience, you undergo it.

You can't create experience, you undergo it.

Albert Camus
What is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying.

What is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying.

Albert Camus
The evil that is in the world almost always comes from ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.

The evil that is in the world almost always comes from ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.

Albert Camus
I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world.

I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world.

Albert Camus
I rebel; therefore I exist.

I rebel; therefore I exist.

Albert Camus
We are all special cases.

We are all special cases.

Albert Camus
Always there comes an hour when one is weary of one's work and devotion to duty, and all one craves for is a loved face, the warmth and wonder of a loving heart.

Always there comes an hour when one is weary of one's work and devotion to duty, and all one craves for is a loved face, the warmth and wonder of a loving heart.

Albert Camus
Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.

Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.

Albert Camus
Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.

Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.

Albert Camus
I know that man is capable of great deeds. But if he isn't capable of great emotion, well, he leaves me cold.

I know that man is capable of great deeds. But if he isn't capable of great emotion, well, he leaves me cold.

Albert Camus
The most important thing you do everyday you live is deciding not to kill yourself.

The most important thing you do everyday you live is deciding not to kill yourself.

Albert Camus
Peace is the only battle worth waging.

Peace is the only battle worth waging.

Albert Camus
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.

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.

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

The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth.

Albert Camus
The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.

The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.

Albert Camus
Nothing in life is worth,
turning your back on,
if you love it.

Nothing in life is worth, turning your back on, if you love it.

Albert Camus
I know simply that the sky will last longer than I.

I know simply that the sky will last longer than I.

Albert Camus
There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.

There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.

Albert Camus
Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?

Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?" "Yes," I said.

Albert Camus
We all carry within us places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to transform them in ourselves and others.

We all carry within us places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to transform them in ourselves and others.

Albert Camus
The need to be right - the sign of a vulgar mind.

The need to be right - the sign of a vulgar mind.

Albert Camus
I feel like getting married, or committing suicide, or subscribing to L'Illustration. Something desperate, you know.

I feel like getting married, or committing suicide, or subscribing to L'Illustration. Something desperate, you know.

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

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

Albert Camus
A person's life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art or love or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened.

A person's life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art or love or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened.

Albert Camus
Human relationships always help us to carry on because they always presuppose further developments, a future - and also because we live as if our only task was precisely to have relationships with other people.

Human relationships always help us to carry on because they always presuppose further developments, a future - and also because we live as if our only task was precisely to have relationships with other people.

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

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

Albert Camus
Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure.

Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure.

Albert Camus
There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night.

There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night.

Albert Camus
For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.

For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.

Albert Camus
Integrity has no need of rules.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Albert Camus
Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.

Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.

Albert Camus
Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable.

Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable.

Albert Camus
Sometimes at night I would sleep open-eyed underneath a sky dripping with stars. I was alive then.

Sometimes at night I would sleep open-eyed underneath a sky dripping with stars. I was alive then.

Albert Camus
I don't want to be a genius-I have enough problems just trying to be a man.

I don't want to be a genius-I have enough problems just trying to be a man.

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

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

Albert Camus
But, you know, I feel more fellowship with the defeated than with saints. Heroism and sanctity don't really appeal to me, I imagine. What interests me is being a man.

But, you know, I feel more fellowship with the defeated than with saints. Heroism and sanctity don't really appeal to me, I imagine. What interests me is being a man.

Albert Camus
I've never really had much of an imagination. But still I would try to picture the exact moment when the beating of my heart would no longer be going on inside my head.

I've never really had much of an imagination. But still I would try to picture the exact moment when the beating of my heart would no longer be going on inside my head.

Albert Camus
A man devoid of hope and conscious of being so has ceased to belong to the future.

A man devoid of hope and conscious of being so has ceased to belong to the future.

Albert Camus
A man is more a man through the things he keeps to himself than through those he says.

A man is more a man through the things he keeps to himself than through those he says.

Albert Camus
Don't believe your friends when they ask you to be honest with them. All they really want is to be maintained in the good opinion they have of themselves.

Don't believe your friends when they ask you to be honest with them. All they really want is to be maintained in the good opinion they have of themselves.

Albert Camus
If absolute truth belongs to anyone in this world, it certainly does not belong to the man or party that claims to possess it.

If absolute truth belongs to anyone in this world, it certainly does not belong to the man or party that claims to possess it.

Albert Camus
I realized then that a man who had lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison. He would have enough memories to keep him from being bored

I realized then that a man who had lived only one day could easily live for a hundred years in prison. He would have enough memories to keep him from being bored

Albert Camus
What made me run away was doubtless not so much the fear of settling down, but of settling down permanently in something ugly.

What made me run away was doubtless not so much the fear of settling down, but of settling down permanently in something ugly.

Albert Camus
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.

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.

Albert Camus
...the habit of despair is worse than despair itself.

...the habit of despair is worse than despair itself.

Albert Camus
After another moment's silence she mumbled that I was peculiar, that that was probably why she loved me but that one day I might disgust her for the very same reason.

After another moment's silence she mumbled that I was peculiar, that that was probably why she loved me but that one day I might disgust her for the very same reason.

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

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

Albert Camus
If there were a party of those who aren't sure they're right, I'd belong to it. 
~(Camus, as quoted by Tony Judt)

If there were a party of those who aren't sure they're right, I'd belong to it. ~(Camus, as quoted by Tony Judt)

Albert Camus
I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice.

I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice.

Albert Camus
We must learn how to lend ourselves to dreaming when dreams lend themselves to us.

We must learn how to lend ourselves to dreaming when dreams lend themselves to us.

Albert Camus
We are all born mad, some remain so

We are all born mad, some remain so

Albert Camus
The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Albert Camus
I continue to believe that this world has no ultimate meaning. But I know that something in it has a meaning and that is man, because he is the only creature to insist on having one

I continue to believe that this world has no ultimate meaning. But I know that something in it has a meaning and that is man, because he is the only creature to insist on having one

Albert Camus
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.

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.

Albert Camus
Life is a sum of all your choices

Life is a sum of all your choices". So, what are you doing today?

Albert Camus