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What will be left of the power of example if it is proved that capital punishment has another power, and a very real one, which degrades men to the point of shame, madness, and murder?

— Albert Camus Reflections on the Guillotine (1957)

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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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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.