I spent a long time looking at faces, drinking in smiles. Am I happy or unhappy? It’s not a very important question. I live with such frenzied intensity. Things and people are waiting for me, and doubtless I am waiting for them and desiring them with all my strength and sadness. But, here, I earn the right to be alive by silence and by secrecy. The miracle of not having to talk about oneself.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the complexity of human emotions and the significance of existence beyond self-expression.
In this quote, Albert Camus explores the intricacies of happiness and existence, suggesting that the quest for understanding one's emotional state is less vital than the experience of life itself. He emphasizes the beauty found in silence and the depth of feeling that arises from observing and connecting with others, while also acknowledging the tension between desire and solitude. Camus implies that true fulfillment transcends mere verbal expression, and it is through the silent appreciation of life that we find our essence.
In practice
In a discussion about the value of introspection, this quote highlights the importance of personal experience over verbal expression.
The Poor Man whom everyone speaks of, the Poor Man whom everyone pities, one of the repulsive Poor from whom charitable souls keep their distance, he has still said nothing. Or, rather, he has spoken through the voice of Victor Hugo, Zola, Richepin. At least, they said so. And these shameful impostures fed their authors. Cruel irony, the Poor Man tormented with hunger feeds those who plead his case.
The certainty of a God giving meaning to life far surpasses in attractiveness the ability to behave badly with impunity. The choice would not be hard to make. But there is no choice and that is where the bitterness comes in. The absurd does not liberate; it binds.
Between history and the eternal I have chosen history because I like certainties. Of it, at least, I am certain, and how can I deny this force crushing me.
Don't wait for the last judgment - it takes place every day.
A single sentence will suffice for modern man. He fornicated and read the papers. After that vigorous definition, the subject will be, if I may say so, exhausted.
At times I feel myself overtaken by an immense tenderness for these people around me who live in the same century.
If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.
I have been a wanderer among distant fields. I have sailed down mighty rivers.
I discovered that the study of past philosophers is of little use unless our own reality enters into it. Our reality alone allows the thinker's questions to become comprehensible.
Perhaps the most significant moral characteristic of a nation is its hypocrisy.
Race, what is that? Race is a competition, somebody winning and somebody losing. Blood doesn't run in races! Come on!
Pacifism, the preaching of peace in the abstract, is one of the means of duping the working class.
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