222 quotes
Does the end justify the means? That is possible. But what will justify the end? To that question, which historical thought leaves pending, rebellion replies: the means.
The Rebel (1951)
The world is what it is, which is to say, nothing much. This is what everyone learned yesterday, thanks to the formidable concert of opinion coming from radios, newspapers, and information agencies.
Between Hell and Reason (1945)
Art is the activity that exalts and denies simultaneously. "No artist tolerates reality," says Nietzsche.
The Rebel (1951)
To be true, a succession of works can be but a series of approximations of the same thought.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love — first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.
Those who need myths are indeed poor. Here the gods serve as beds or resting places as the day races across the sky.
Nuptials (essays) (1938)
Of all the schools of patience and lucidity, creation is the most effective.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to the present.
The Rebel (1951)
Great feelings take with them their own universe, splendid or abject.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
There is always a philosophy for lack of courage.
Notebooks (1942)
"I conclude that all is well," says Oedipus, and that remark is sacred. It echoes in the wild and limited universe of man. It teaches that all is not, has not been, exhausted.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
Gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, the first, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference of the universe.
A living man can be enslaved and reduced to the historic condition of an object. But if he dies in refusing to be enslaved, he reaffirms the existence of another kind of human nature which refuses to be classified as an object.
Can one be a saint without God?, that's the problem, in fact the only problem, I'm up against today.
The Plague (1947)
Like great works, deep feelings always mean more than they are conscious of saying.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
Maman used to say that you can always find something to be happy about.
The Stranger (1942)
The absurd man says yes and his effort will henceforth be unceasing.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
The absurd does not liberate; it binds. It does not authorize all actions. "Everything is permitted" does not mean that nothing is forbidden.
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)
Every revolutionary ends as an oppressor or a heretic.
The Rebel (1951)
With rebellion, awareness is born.
The Estranged God : Modern Man's Search for Belief (1966)