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.
Interpretation
Camus critiques the superficiality of modern life, suggesting it is limited to basic, uninspired routines.
In this quote, Albert Camus reflects on the simplicity and perhaps emptiness of the modern human experience, encapsulating it in a single, dismissive sentence that suggests our existence revolves around basic physical desires and passive consumption of information, which leaves little room for deeper meaning or exploration. It underscores a sense of exhaustion with the limitations of contemporary life, provoking thought about the importance of substance and engagement beyond mere survival and routine.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the meaning of life in a philosophy class.
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.
At times I feel myself overtaken by an immense tenderness for these people around me who live in the same century.
More and more, revolution has found itself delivered into the hands of its bureaucrats and doctrinaires on the one hand, and to the enfeebled and bewildered masses on the other.
The real cure to immigration, obviously, is to make sure that there is prosperity around the world so that people don't have the motive. Not just prosperity, but freedom.
The rising sun can dispel the darkness of night, but it cannot banish the blackness of malice, hatred, bigotry, and selfishness from the hearts of humanity.
It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.
A man making the confession of any creed worth ten minutes' intelligent talk, is always a man who gains something and gives up something. So long as he does both he can create: for he is making an outline and a shape.
The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality.
Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself.
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