The Plague

by Albert Camus

There have been as many plagues in the world as there have been wars, yet plagues and wars always find people equally unprepared.

He recalled having read that the plague spared those of weak constitution and mainly destroyed those of a robust nature.

The evil in the world comes almost always from ignorance, and goodwill can cause as much damage as ill-will if it is not enlightened.

‘One can’t heal and know at the same time.

What is natural is the microbe. The rest – health, integrity, purity, if you like – are an effect of will and a will that must never relax.

And you need will-power and nervous tension not to let your mind wander!

All that a man could win in the game of plague and life was knowledge and memory.

how hard it must be to live only with what one knows and what one remembers, and deprived of what one hopes.