For me, physical love has always been bound to an irresistible feeling of innocence and joy. Thus, I cannot love in tears but in exaltation.
Interpretation
Love is tied to joy and innocence, not sadness.
In this quote, Albert Camus expresses his belief that true physical love is deeply connected to a sense of innocence and pure joy. To him, love should be an uplifting experience filled with exaltation rather than sorrow, highlighting the idea that love can be a source of happiness and positivity instead of pain and tears.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a wedding speech, emphasizing the joyful nature of love.
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.
From the Cross, Christ teaches us to love even those who do not love us.
Through your love for each other, through learning the art of making one person happy, you learn to express your love for the whole of humanity and all beings. Please help us develop the curriculum for the Institute for the Happiness of One Person. Don't wait until we open the school. You can begin practicing right away.
I regard as a mortal sin not only the lying of the senses in matters of love, but also the illusion which the senses seek to create where love is only partial. I say, I believe, that one must love with all of one's being, or else live, come what may, a life of complete chastity.
I found the experience of falling in love or being in love was a death, a death of everything. You kind of watch yourself die in a wonderful way, and you experience for the briefest moment β if you see yourself for a moment through their eyes β everything you believed about yourself gone. In a death-and-rebirth sense.
I think every human being knows how to hate. Because if they didn't know how to hate how to hate they wouldn't know how to love.
God is love, generosity and forgiveness; if we believe in this, we will never allow our weaknesses to paralyse us.
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