French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist
At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures - be what he is. And, above all, accept these things.
The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. For the moment, it is all that links them together.
I draw from the Absurd three consequences: my revolt, my liberty, my passion.
Basically, at the very bottom of life, which seduces us all, there is only absurdity, and more absurdity. And maybe that's what gives us our joy for living, because the only thing that can defeat absurdity is lucidity.
At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.
Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.
Every great work makes the human face more admirable and richer, and that is its whole secret.
We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love - first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.
In order to exist just once in the world, it is necessary never again to exist.
For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.