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The ancients, even though they believed in destiny, believed primarily in nature, in which they participated wholeheartedly. To rebel against nature amounted to rebelling against oneself. It was butting one's head against a wall.

— Albert Camus The Rebel (1951)

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More quotes by Albert Camus

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

The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)

A nihilist is not one who believes in nothing, but one who does not believe in what exists.

The Rebel (1951)

Man cannot do without beauty, and this is what our era pretends to want to disregard.

Helen's Exile (1948)

A character is never the author who created him. It is quite likely, however, that an author may be all his characters simultaneously.

The Rebel (1951)

Knowing that certain nights whose sweetness lingers will keep returning to the earth and sea after we are gone, yes, this helps us to die.

All Albert Camus quotes →

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Utu, shepherd of the land, father of the black-headed, when you go to sleep, the people go to sleep with you; youth Utu, when you rise, the people rise with you.

Lugalbanda

The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

Edward Gibbon The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

Matter gave birth to a passion that has no equal, which proceeded from something contrary to nature. Then there arises a disturbance in its whole body.

Jesus

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Albert Camus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.