Quotes from Albert Camus

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

Just as all thought, and primarily that of non-signification, signifies something, so there is no art that has no signification.

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.

More and more, when faced with the world of men, the only reaction is one of individualism. Man alone is an end unto himself. Everything one tries to do for the common good ends in failure.

It's no use reminding yourself daily that you are mortal: it will be brought home to you soon enough.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.

I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement, it takes place every day.

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

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

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

You are forgiven for your happiness and your successes only if you generously consent to share them.

We continue to shape our personality all our life. If we knew ourselves perfectly, we should die.

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.

As a remedy to life in society I would suggest the big city. Nowadays, it is the only desert within our means.

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

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

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

Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre.

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.

Life is the sum of all your choices.

History only exists, in the final analysis, for God.

Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.