ANCIENT&
not so ancient
WISDOM
offering a weekly positive perspective
February
3, 2005
"In
the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an
invincible summer."
- Albert Camus (1913-1960)
Albert
Camus was born November 7, 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria. Poverty
would define much of his early existence. His father was
killed in the First Battle of the Marne in World War I. His
mother worked as a charwoman (housekeeper) to support
herself, Camus, and his older brother, Lucien. The three of
them moved to the working-class district of Algiers to live
with their maternal grandmother and a paralyzed uncle in a
two-room apartment.
Louis
Germain, a primary school teacher, recognized the boy’s
intellectual potential and encouraged him in his studies.
After his ordeal with tuberculosis, Camus continued his
education at the University of Algiers where he earned a
degree in philosophy. He developed a great interest in
sports and the theater while at the university even though
his university experience was limited by the attack of
tuberculosis, which troubled him periodically throughout his
life.
In
1938, he accepted a post with the left-wing newspaper
Alger-Republican. He served as a sub-editor, political
reporter, writer, and book-reviewer. During World War II,
Camus used his literary talents to support the French
Resistance as editor of Combat, and underground paper. His
editorials, both before and after the liberation, showed a
deep desire to combine political action with strict
adherence to moral principles.
In
1947, he retired from political journalism and focused on
his writing, which include fiction, essays, and plays.
He
established an international reputation with such works as The
Stranger (1946), The
Plague (1947), The
Rebel (1954), Caligula
(1938), and Cross Purpose (1944).
The
themes of poverty, sport, and the horror of human mortality
figure prominently in his Algerian essays: L'Envers et
l'endroit (The Wrong Side and the Right Side, 1937), Noces
(Nuptials, 1938), and L'Ete (Summer, 1954).
Camus
is often mislabeled an “existentialist”. He separates
himself from existentialism with his 1938 comment about
Sartre’s novel Nausea
(La
Nausée). "To observe that life is absurd is
not an end, but a beginning." In fact, Camus is more
closely a moralist than a philosopher. His personality and
experiences in occupied France did not allowed him to be
satisfied with moral neutrality. The growth of his ideas on
moral responsibility is partly sketched in the four Letters
to a German Friend (1945) and a number of other political
essays, in Resistance, Rebellion, and Death (1960).
In
1957, he was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Literature.
On
January 4, 1960, Camus was killed in an automobile accident
while returning to Paris with his friend and publisher
Michel Gallimard. He was forty-six years old.
Taking
a stand on issues is important. Define what your level of
commitment to the contribution of others is and the way you
wish to be treated. Establish competency and master of your
skills and there is little that goes on in the outside world
that can slow you down for long. Wishing you all the best
and great success.
Sincerely,
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