Quote #204

The man whose blood, and extravagances, and frail heart lead him to the commonest weaknesses must rely on something in order to get to the point of respecting himself and hence of respecting others. This is why I loathe a certain self-satisfied virtue, I loathe society's dreadful morality because it results, exactly like absolute cynicism, in making men despair and in keeping them from taking responsibility for their own life with all its weight of errors and greatness.

More from Albert Camus

  1. The majority of revolutions are shaped by, and derive their originality from, murder.
  2. The miner who is exploited or shot down, the slaves in the camps, those in the colonies, the legions of persecuted throughout the world - t…
  3. The irrational imposes limits on the rational, which, in its turn, gives it its moderation.
  4. The most painful thing to bear is seeing a mockery made of what one loves.
  5. The important thing, as Abbe Galiani said to Mme d'Epinay, is not to be cured, but to live with one's ailments.
  6. The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm.
  7. The great novelists are philosopher-novelists whom write in images instead of arguments.
  8. The night on Golgotha is so important in the history of man only because, in its shadow, the divinity abandoned its traditional privileges …

All Albert Camus quotes