Mistakes are joyful, truth infernal.
Interpretation
Mistakes bring joy as they lead to learning, while the harsh truth can be painful.
This quote by Albert Camus suggests that making mistakes is a natural and often enjoyable part of life, as it opens opportunities for learning and growth. In contrast, facing the absolute truth can be a challenging and often hellish experience, indicating that some truths may be difficult to accept and can lead to suffering or discomfort.
In practice
During a workshop on creativity, I quoted Camus to inspire participants to embrace their mistakes.
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.
Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.
I'm trying to look at many, many things in modern life that I believe are going faster, and I'm trying to look at why they're going faster and what effect they have on us. We all know about FedEx and instant pudding, but it doesn't mean we've looked at all the consequences of our desire for speed.
A people who extend civil liberties only to preferred groups start down the path either to dictatorship of the right or the left.
Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth.
Injustice in the end produces independence.
The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion.
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