Greatsayings.net » Existentialist quotes

Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Idiot

casanova — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:16:22 +0000

Another time, twice, in fact, I tried hard to be in love. I suffered, too, gentlemen, I assure you. In the depth of my heart there was no faith in my suffering, only a faint stir of mockery, but yet I did suffer, and in the real, orthodox way; I was jealous, beside myself … and it was all from ennui, gentlemen, all from ennui; inertia overcame me.

Friedrich Nietzsche

lucy — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:07:46 +0000

“I call a lie: wanting not to see something one does see, wanting not to see something as one sees it … the most common lie is the lie one tells to oneself; lying to other is relatively the exception.”

“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”
“Faith means not wanting to know what is true.”
“I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.”

Albert Camus (1913-1960) French philosopher and writer

summer — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:22:04 +0000

Albert Camus was born on 7 November 1913, in Mondovi, Algeria. His parents were French immigrants seeking a better life in the colonies. Although often associated with existentialism Camus has often refuted this label. He won the Nobel Prize in 1957.

Camus doubted meaning beyond this life. As he writes:

“A world which can be explained, even through bad reasoning, is a familiar one. On the other hand, in a world suddenly devoid of illusion and light, man feels like a stranger.”

Quotes: Albert Camus

1. I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment, it takes place every day.

2. In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

3. But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

4. What is a rebel? A man who says no.

5. This heart within me I can feel, and I judge that it exists. This world I can touch, and I likewise judge that it exists. There ends all my knowledge, and the rest is construction.

6. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.

7. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.