I like these people swarming on the sidewalks, wedged into a little space of houses and canals, hemmed in by fogs, cold lands, and the sea streaming like a wet wash. I like them, for they are double. They are here and elsewhere.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the duality of human existence and the connection people have to their environment.
In this quote, Albert Camus expresses an appreciation for the complexity of individuals, who are influenced by their surroundings and simultaneously possess an inner life that transcends their immediate reality. The imagery of being 'hemmed in' by the cold and fog evokes a sense of confinement and existential struggle, while the notion of being 'double' suggests that people experience both their tangible reality and a more profound, often hidden, existence.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about urban life and the complexities of human relationships.
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.
What should move us to action is human dignity: the inalienable dignity of the oppressed, but also the dignity of each of us. We lose dignity if we tolerate the intolerable.
To denounce does not free the self from what it hates, any more than ignoring the past shuts off its influence.
Whose rights will we acknowledge? Whose human dignity will we respect? For whose well-being will we, as a people, assume responsibility?
The smallest things become great when God requires them of us; they are small only in themselves; they are always great when they are done for God.
You get tragedy where the tree, instead of bending, breaks.
No one has the right to be sorry for himself for a misfortune that strikes everyone.
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