Quote by Albert Camus
I know positively - yes Rieux I can say I know the world inside out as no one on earth is free from it. And I know too that we must keep endless watch on ourselves lest in careless moment we breathe in somebody's face and fasten the infection on him. What's natural is the microbe. All the rest- health integrity purity if you like - is a product of the human will of vigilance that must never falter. The good man the man who infects hardly anyone is the man who has the fewest lapses of attention. And it needs tremendous will-power a never ending tension of the mind to avoid such lapses. Yes Rieux it's a wearying business being plague-stricken. But it's still more wearying to refuse to be it. That's why everybody in the world today looks so tired everyone is more or less sick of plague. But that is also why some of us who want to get the plague out of their systems feel such desperate weariness a weariness from which nothing remains to set us free except death.
Summary
This quote by the character Rambert in Albert Camus' novel "The Plague" highlights the universal nature of suffering and the responsibility each individual has to prevent the spread of harm. Rambert suggests that everyone is affected by the "microbe" of the world's difficult realities, but it is our duty to be constantly vigilant to avoid inflicting that suffering on others. The capacity to maintain this vigilance requires immense willpower and attention. Rambert notes that while being affected by the plague is exhausting, refusing to be part of the problem is even more draining. Ultimately, death may seem like the only release from this weariness.
By Albert Camus
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