The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), An Absurd Reasoning, p. 155
The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Neurotics and neurosis
The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), An Absurd Reasoning
Context: At this point of his effort man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world. This must not be forgotten. This must be clung to because the whole consequence of a life can depend on it. The irrational, the human nostalgia, and the absurd that is born of their encounter — these are the three characters in the drama that must necessarily end with all the logic of which an existence is capable.
“It's a feeling which tells me that any woman can be beautiful in the eyes of a man who loves her.”
Source: Five Quarters of the Orange
Source: The Scarlet Letter (1850), Chapter XX: The Minister in a Maze
“Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.”
"Spiritualism"
All Things Considered (1908)
Context: It is not funny that anything else should fall down; only that a man should fall down. No one sees anything funny in a tree falling down. No one sees a delicate absurdity in a stone falling down. No man stops in the road and roars with laughter at the sight of the snow coming down. The fall of thunderbolts is treated with some gravity. The fall of roofs and high buildings is taken seriously. It is only when a man tumbles down that we laugh. Why do we laugh? Because it is a grave religious matter: it is the Fall of Man. Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.
Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Fire Book
“Standing on a street corner waiting for no one is power.”
