Albert Camus (7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French pied-noir author, journalist, and philosopher. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He wrote in his essay "The Rebel" that his whole life was devoted to opposing the philosophy of nihilism while still delving deeply into individual freedom. Although often cited as a proponent of existentialism, the philosophy with which Camus was associated during his own lifetime, he rejected this particular label. In an interview in 1945, Camus rejected any ideological associations: "No, I am not an existentialist. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked..."
In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement after his split with Garry Davis's Citizens of the World movement, of which the surrealist André Breton was also a member. The formation of this group, according to Camus, was intended to "denounce two ideologies found in both the USSR and the USA" regarding their idolatry of technology.
Camus was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times". He was the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, after Rudyard Kipling, and the first African-born writer to receive the award. He is the shortest-lived of any Nobel literature laureate to date, having died in an automobile accident just over two years after receiving the award.
Read more about Albert Camus: Early Years, Literary Career, Revolutionary Union Movement and Europe, Death, Summary of Absurdism, Ideas On The Absurd, Opposition To Totalitarianism, Football
Famous quotes by albert camus:
“A trial cannot be conducted by announcing the general culpability of a civilization. Only the actual deeds which, at least, stank in the nostrils of the entire world were brought to judgment.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“This world, such as it is, is not tolerable. Therefore I need the moon, or happiness, or immortality, I need something which is perhaps demented, but which is not of this world.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“I know [my label], in any case: a double face, a charming Janus, and underneath, the house motto: ‘Be wary’. On my business cards: ‘Jean-Baptiste Clamence, actor’.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“There is the good and the bad, the great and the low, the just and the unjust. I swear to you that all that will never change.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“She noted that marriage is a very serious thing. I answered that no, it is not.... She just wanted to know if I would have accepted the same proposal from another woman with whom I would have had a relationship like ours. I said, ‘Of course’.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)