1001Philosophers

Albert Camus Quotes on Truth

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 truth, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • “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
  • “I do not have much liking for the too famous existential philosophy, and, to tell the truth, I think its conclusions false.”

    Resistance, Rebellion, and Death(1960) | "Pessimism and Tyranny"
  • “One does not decide the truth of a thought according to whether it is right-wing or left-wing.”

    Letter to Jean-Paul Sartre , 30 June 1952. As quoted in Paris after the Liberation: 1944-1949 by Antony Beevor and Artemis Cooper .
  • “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
  • “There is no mystery in humans creation. Will performs this miracle. But at least there is no true creation without a secret.”

    Absurd Creation | Kirilov
  • “"This is the truth," we say. "You can discuss it as much as you want; we aren't interested. But in a few years there'll be the police who will show you we are right."”

    The Fall(1956)