“God is not needed to create guilt or to punish. Our fellow men suffice, aided by ourselves.”
The Fall (1956)
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Albert Camus 209
French author and journalist 1913–1960Related quotes
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 611.
1993, quoted in [2009-04-07, Grand Theft Jesus, Robert S. McElvaine, Random House, 23230669M, 9780307395801, 35, http://books.google.com/books?id=rRQKN3CO9ksC&pg=PA35]
also quoted in [2007-05-18, Bill Press, Press: The sad legacy of Jerry Falwell, Milford Daily News, http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/x1987843539] and [2007-05-19, The Legacy of Falwell's Bully Pulpit, Hans Johnson, William Eskridge, The Washington Post, 0190-8286, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/18/AR2007051801392.html]
“When neither our fellows nor our gods spoil our plans, we spoil them ourselves.”
Volume 4, Ch. 15
Fiction, The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996)
The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (1979)
Context: The Judge, whose core issue is our sense of worth and value, splits us into Judge and Subject to be Judged. When possessed by the Judge, we live in a world of comparisons, competition, and punishment, constantly rate ourselves and others, feel jealousy and guilt. The Judge seduces us with the false promise that we can gain value if we obey, perform, produce. <!-- p. 238
1770s, Boston Massacre trial (1770)
Context: It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished.
But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, "whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection," and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.
Man’s Search for Himself (1953)
Context: Finding the center of strength within ourselves is in the long run the best contribution we can make to our fellow men. … One person with indigenous inner strength exercises a great calming effect on panic among people around him. This is what our society needs — not new ideas and inventions; important as these are, and not geniuses and supermen, but persons who can be, that is, persons who have a center of strength within themselves.
1930s, First Inaugural Address (1933)