Albert Camus 1913 – 1960
Albert Camus (1913 – 1960) was a French philosopher of the Contemporary era, associated with Absurdism, Existentialism, and Continental Philosophy.
Albert Camus was a 20th-century French philosopher, novelist, and journalist, born in French Algeria, who developed the philosophical position known as absurdism. His 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus opens with the claim that there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, that of suicide, and proposes a defiant embrace of life in the face of its apparent meaninglessness. His novels The Stranger and The Plague, and his later philosophical work The Rebel, explore themes of moral responsibility, political violence, and the human capacity for revolt. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. Camus rejected the existentialist label associated with Sartre, but his work is generally read alongside it as a distinct strand of post-war French thought.
Albert Camus (1913–1960) was born in French Algeria to a poor settler family; his father was killed at the Battle of the Marne when Camus was an infant. He worked as a journalist, theater director, and member of the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation, and after the war became one of the most celebrated French intellectuals of his generation.
Camus's philosophical writings center on the absurd — the confrontation between the human demand for meaning and the silence of a world that does not supply it. The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) frames the response to absurdity as lucid revolt: neither suicide nor false consolation, but the persistent acknowledgment of meaninglessness combined with the active project of living without illusion. The Rebel (1951) extends the analysis to politics, arguing that genuine revolt has limits that revolutionary terror systematically violates.
Camus's break with Sartre over communism and over The Rebel split the postwar French left and shaped the later reception of both. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 and died in a car accident in 1960 at forty-six. His novels — The Stranger, The Plague, The Fall — are routinely cited as among the finest of the twentieth century, and his absurdism remains the most distinctive philosophical alternative to existential humanism in postwar continental thought.
Key facts
- Nationality
- French
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Absurdism, Existentialism, Continental Philosophy
Selected quotes
-
“One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Original French: La lutte elle-même vers les sommets suffit à remplir un cœur d'homme; il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux. | Variant translation: The fight itself towards the summits suffices to fill a heart of man; it is necessary to imagine Sisyphus happy. -
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
O light ! This is the cry of all the characters of ancient drama brought face to face with their fate. This last resort was ours, too, and I knew it now. In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer . -
“The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart.”
Original French: La lutte elle-même vers les sommets suffit à remplir un cœur d'homme; il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux. | Variant translation: The fight itself towards the summits suffices to fill a heart of man; it is necessary to imagine Sisyphus happy. -
“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”
Notebooks 1935-1942 -
“I rebel; therefore we exist.”
The Rebel (L'Homme Revolte), 1951
Albert Camus by topic
Albert Camus vs other philosophers
Frequently asked about Albert Camus
- When did Albert Camus live?
- Albert Camus was born in 1913 and died in 1960.
- Where was Albert Camus from?
- Albert Camus was a French philosopher of the Contemporary era.
- What philosophical movements is Albert Camus associated with?
- Albert Camus was associated with Absurdism, Existentialism, and Continental Philosophy.
- What was Albert Camus known for?
- Albert Camus was a 20th-century French philosopher, novelist, and journalist, born in French Algeria, who developed the philosophical position known as absurdism.
- How many quotes are attributed to Albert Camus?
- There are 49 attributed quotations from Albert Camus in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.
Quotes that are not actually from Albert Camus
These lines are widely circulated as Albert Camus, but they do not appear in Albert Camus's works. Each entry below identifies the actual source.
-
“Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
This sentimental verse is widely circulated as Albert Camus, but no source has been found in his published works, journals, or correspondence. Researchers including Quote Investigator have traced it to anonymous greeting-card and bookmark verse circulating from the mid-20th century onward; it has also been spuriously attributed to Khalil Gibran and other authors. There is no evidence it is from Camus.
-
“There are causes worth dying for, but none worth killing for.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: Widely attributed to Camus on the internet, the earliest attribution of such a statement to him yet located is an unsourced citation in Quotations from the Wayside (1999) by Brenda Wong: "Many things are worth dying for, but none worth killing for." The earliest occurrence yet located of such a stat
-
“I think my life is of great importance, but I also think it is meaningless.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: Attributed to Camus on social media, this sentence was taken from the Wikipedia article on Camus: "In Le Mythe , dualism becomes a paradox: we value our own lives in spite of our mortality and in spite of the universe's silence. While we can live with a dualism ( I can accept periods of unhappiness,
-
“Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth.”
Please read this article for more information: Did Camus ever say “Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth”? | Literature Stack Exchange
-
“Great novelists are philosopher-novelists who write in images instead of arguments.”
This may have arisen as a paraphrase of statements found in The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), "An Absurd Reasoning", or one found in The Novelist as Philosopher: Studies in French Fiction 1935-1960 (1962) edited by John Cruikshank, p. 218 (Disputed.)
-
“Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?”
There is no documented evidence that Camus ever wrote or said this, aside from Barry Schwartz's uncited mention in The Paradox of Choice . It is likely falsely attributed. (Disputed.)
-
“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.”
Pablo Picasso said something very similar. Perhaps it is the source? From Herschel B. Chipp's Theories of Modern Art: "We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth , at least the truth that is given us to understand." (Disputed.)
-
“Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
Widely attributed, but likely apocryphal. Researchers have searched for this quote unsuccessfully in Camus' extant works. (Disputed.)
-
“We all have a weakness for beauty.”
Claimed to be from The First Man, but not an accurate citation. The complete sentence is: "And then he understood that his grandmother's love for her son was physical, that, like everyone, she was in love with the grace and strength of Ernest, and her weakness for him that had seemed unusual was after all very common; it softens us all more or less, and delightfully so besides, and helps make the world bearable—it is our weakness for beauty." (Disputed.)