The absurd depends as much on man as on the world. For the moment, it is all that links them together.

Believe me, religions are on the wrong track the moment they moralize and fulminate commandments. God is not needed to create guilt or to punish. Our fellow men suffice, aided by ourselves.

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's revolving door.

We are condemned to live together.

Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him?

People don't love each other at our age, Marthe—they please each other, that's all. Later on, when you're old and impotent, you can love someone. At our age, you just think you do. That's all it is.

You must have a love, a great love, to ensure an alibi at unjustified despairs that conquer all of us