Albert Camus Quotes on Time
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 time, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.”
La vraie générosité envers l'avenir consiste à tout donner au présent. -
“Art, at least, teaches us that man cannot be explained by history alone and that he also finds a reason for his existence in the order of nature.”
The Rebel(1951) | Part 4: Rebellion and Art -
“With the exception of professional rationalists, today people despair of true knowledge. If the only significant history of human thought were to be written, it would have to be history of its successive regrets and impotences.”
An Absurd Reasoning | Absurd Walls -
“In Oran, as elsewhere, for want of time and thought, people have to love one another without knowing it.”
The Plague(1947) -
“In the end, man is not entirely guilty — he did not start history. Nor is he wholly innocent — he continues it.”
The Rebel(1951) | Part 5: Thought at the Meridian (Section: Moderation and Excess) -
“Only it takes time to be happy. A lot of time. Happiness , too, is a long patience .”
A Happy Death(written 1936-38 (published in 1971, over 11 years after the author's death)) -
“If the only significant history of human thought were to be written, it would have to be the history of its successive regrets and its impotences.”
Absurd Creation -
“It takes time to live. Like any work of art , life needs to be thought about.”
A Happy Death(written 1936-38 (published in 1971, over 11 years after the author's death)) -
“To have time was at once the most magnificent and the most dangerous of experiments. Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre.”
A Happy Death(written 1936-38 (published in 1971, over 11 years after the author's death))