If it adapts itself to what the majority of our society wants, art will be a meaningless recreation.
Interpretation
Art loses its value when it conforms solely to societal expectations.
In this quote, Albert Camus suggests that if art only caters to the desires and tastes of the majority, it becomes devoid of its true significance and creativity. Instead of challenging perspectives or expressing individuality, art that simply reproduces what is popular or widely accepted fails to serve its higher purpose of provoking thought and inspiring emotions.
In practice
During a gallery opening, to encourage artists to remain true to their vision.
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.
Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders' spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to environment, married to the ground.
A novel should tell a story, be a pleasure to read, and at the same time it should be thought-provoking, even a bit instructive.
The reality of a poem is a very ghostly one. It suggests, it suggests, it suggests again.
Writers don't often say anything that readers don't already know, unless its a news story. A writer's greatest pleasure is revealing to people things they knew but did not know they knew. Or did not realize everyone else knew, too. This produces a warm sense of fellow feeling and is the best a writer can do.
Nudity has never seemed to bother Grace Jones. Her art has thrived, in part, on a physical candor that both shocked people and redrew the boundaries of taste, beauty, and eroticism around her masculinity, ebony skin, and unrelenting intensity.
Music must be listened to; it is not enough to hear it. A duck hears also.
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