Albert Camus Quotes on Freedom
Albert Camus was a 20th-century French philosopher, novelist, and journalist, born in French Algeria, who developed the philosophical position known as absurdism. This page collects quotes attributed to Albert Camus on the topic of freedom, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“I rebel; therefore we exist.”
The Rebel (L'Homme Revolte), 1951 -
“What is a rebel? A man who says no.”
Chapter 1 -
“To become god is merely to be free on this earth, not to serve an immortal being.”
Absurd Creation | Kirilov -
“Absolute freedom mocks at justice . Absolute justice denies freedom. To be fruitful, the two ideas must find their limits in each other.”
The Rebel(1951) | "Historical Murder", as translated by Anthony Bower -
“Real fulfillment, for the man who allows absolutely free rein to his desires, and who much dominate everything, lies in hatred.”
The Rebel(1951) | Part 2: Metaphysical Rebellion -
“Outside of that single fatality of death, everything, joy or happiness, is liberty.”
Absurd Creation -
“Mistaken ideas always end in bloodshed, but in every case it is someone else's blood. That is why some of our thinkers feel free to say just about anything.”
Actuelles I, 1950 -
“The slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown. He must dominate in his turn.”
The Rebel(1951) -
“The aim of art , the aim of a life can only be to increase the sum of freedom and responsibility to be found in every man and in the world. It cannot, under any circumstances, be to reduce or suppress that freedom, even temporarily.”
Resistance, Rebellion, and Death(1960) | "The Artist and His Time"