When there is no hope, one must invent hope.

The struggle to reach the top is itself enough to fulfill the heart of man. One must believe that Sisyphus is happy.

None of the evils which totalitarianism ... claims to remedy is worse than totalitarianism itself.

It was in Spain that [my generation] learned that one can be right and yet be beaten, that force can vanquish spirit, that there are times when courage is not its own recompense. It is this, doubtless, which explains why so many, the world over, feel the Spanish drama as a personal tragedy.

Men and women consume one another rapidly in what is called "the act of love," or else settle down to a mild habit of conjugality. We seldom find a mean between these two extremes.

Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.

Greatness consists in trying to be great. There is no other way.