All men have a sweetness in their life. That is what helps them go on. It is towards that they turn when they feel too worn out.
Interpretation
The quote highlights that every individual possesses an inherent goodness or sweetness that motivates them, especially during tough times.
In this quote, Albert Camus emphasizes the essential human quality of seeking positivity and sweetness in life as a source of strength and resilience. He suggests that when faced with challenges or exhaustion, people naturally gravitate towards the uplifting aspects of their existence, which provide comfort and motivation to continue their journey.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience, one could quote this to inspire others.
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.
We have this habit of romanticizing the lives of writers. I remember when I was a kid, I was like, 'I want to be Kurt Vonnegut.'
Please, don't worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting.
You can plan all you want to. You can lie in your morning bed and fill whole notebooks with schemes and intentions. But within a single afternoon, within hours or minutes, everything you plan and everything you have fought to make yourself can be undone as a slug is undone when salt is poured on him. And right up to the moment when you find yourself dissolving into foam you can still believe you are doing fine.
I've lived a life that's full, I traveled each and ev'ry highway, And more, much more than this, I did it my way.
I became a man in New York. New York made me the musician that I am and the person that I am, so it's impossible for me to say I regret having lived there.
It was an indulgence, learning last words. Other people had chocolate; I had dying declarations.
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