Once crime was as solitary as a cry of protest; now it is as universal as science. Yesterday it was put on trial; today it determines the law.
It is normal to give away a little of one’s life in order not to lose it all.
All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State.
Only a philosophy of eternity, in the world today, could justify non-violence.
Martyrs, my friend, have to choose between being forgotten, mocked or used. As for being understood – never.
Culture: the cry of men in face of their destiny.
Men are convinced of your arguments, your sincerity, and the seriousness of your efforts only by your death.
At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.
Real nobility is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference.
Rebellion cannot exist without the feeling that somewhere, in some way, you are justified.
Absurd- that is the light mind that establishes its own borders.
The world is never quiet, even its silence eternally resounds with the same notes, in vibrations which escape our ears. As for those that we perceive, they carry sounds to us, occasionally a chord, never a melody.
To correct a natural indifference I was placed half-way between misery and the sun. Misery kept me from believing that all was well under the sun, and the sun taught me that history wasn’t everything.
Violence is both unavoidable and unjustifiable.
To govern means to pillage, as everyone knows.
There is no love of life without despair of life.
The role of the intellectual cannot be to excuse the violence of one side and condemn that of the other.
The day when I am no more than a writer I shall cease to be a writer.
The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. For the moment, it is all that links them together.
Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.