Quotes from book
The Rebel

Albert Camus Original title L’Homme révolté (French, 1951)

The Rebel is a 1951 book-length essay by Albert Camus, which treats both the metaphysical and the historical development of rebellion and revolution in societies, especially Western Europe. Camus relates writers and artists as diverse as Epicurus and Lucretius, the Marquis de Sade, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Stirner, André Breton, and others in an integrated, historical portrait of man in revolt. Examining both rebellion and revolt, which may be seen as the same phenomenon in personal and social frames, Camus examines several 'countercultural' figures and movements from the history of Western thought and art, noting the importance of each in the overall development of revolutionary thought and philosophy. This work has received ongoing interest, influencing modern philosophers and authors such as Paul Berman and others.


Albert Camus photo

“I proclaim that I believe in nothing and that everything is absurd, but I cannot doubt the validity of my proclamation and I must at least believe in my protest.”

Source: The Rebel (1951), pp. 8 - 10 as quoted in Albert Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd';(2002) by Avi Sagi, p. 44
Context: The absurd … is an experience to be lived through, a point of departure, the equivalent, in existence of Descartes' methodical doubt. Absurdism, like methodical doubt, has wiped the slate clean. It leaves us in a blind alley. But, like methodical doubt, it can, by returning upon itself, open up a new field of investigation, and in the process of reasoning then pursues the same course. I proclaim that I believe in nothing and that everything is absurd, but I cannot doubt the validity of my proclamation and I must at least believe in my protest. The first and only evidence that is supplied me, within the terms of the absurdist experience, is rebellion … Rebellion is born of the spectacle of irrationality, confronted with an unjust and incomprehensible condition.

Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo

“With rebellion, awareness is born.”

As quoted in The Estranged God : Modern Man's Search for Belief (1966) by Anthony T. Padovano, p. 109
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo

“Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to the present.”

La vraie générosité envers l'avenir consiste à tout donner au présent.
Part 5: Thought at the Meridian (p. 313)
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo

“Every revolutionary ends as an oppressor or a heretic.”

Variant translation: Every revolutionary ends by becoming either an oppressor or a heretic.
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo

“The artist reconstructs the world to his plan.”

Part 4: Rebellion and Art
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo

“In the end, man is not entirely guilty — he did not start history. Nor is he wholly innocent — he continues it.”

L'homme enfin n'est pas entièrement coupable — il n'a pas commencé l'histoire — ni tout à fait innocent, puisqu'il la continue.
Part 5: Thought at the Meridian (Section: Moderation and Excess)
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo

“Artistic creation is a demand for unity and a rejection of the world.”

Part 4: Rebellion and Art
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo

“The most elementary form of rebellion, paradoxically, expresses an aspiration for order.”

Part 2: Metaphysical Rebellion
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo
Albert Camus photo

“A nihilist is not one who believes in nothing, but one who does not believe in what exists.”

Part 2: Metaphysical Rebellion
The Rebel (1951)

Albert Camus photo

“Every ideology is contrary to human psychology.”

The Rebel (1951)

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