Wise Reminders from Albert Camus

Albert Camus (November 7th, 1913 – January 4th, 1960) was an Algerian-born French author, philosopher, dramatist, and journalist. He received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at age forty-four, the second-youngest recipient in history. His works include The Plague, The Rebel, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Stranger, and The Fall.

He was politically active and opposed Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union because of their totalitarianism. Camus was a moralist and leaned towards anarcho-syndicalism.

Below we list words of wisdom by Albert Camus.

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend."

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

"Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear."

"Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement."

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

"Life is a sum of all your choices". So, what are you doing today?"
"Whoever gives nothing, has nothing. The greatest misfortune is not to be unloved, but not to love."

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

"A symbol always transcends the one who makes use of it and makes him say in reality more than he is aware of expressing."

"The realization that life is absurd cannot be an end, but only a beginning."

"The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants."

"The greatness of man lies in his decision to be stronger than his condition."

"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."

"Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified at having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies. And the fact that men accept this, that the people’s anger has not destroyed these hollow clowns, strikes me as proof that men attribute no importance to the way they are governed; that they gamble – yes, gamble – with a whole part of their life and their so called 'vital interests."

"There are causes worth dying for, but none worth killing for."

"Yes, everything is simple. It's people who complicate things."

"Integrity needs no rules."

"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."

"The most knowledgeable person in one domain may be the most ignorant in another."

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

"Freedom is not constituted primarily of privileges but of responsibilities."

"To grow old is to pass from passion to compassion."

"Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it."

"My dear, In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that… In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back. Truly yours, Albert Camus"

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

"One recognizes one's course by discovering the paths that stray from it."

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

Copyright © Stephen Petullo, Scott Petullo