“For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium.”

French philosopher, writer, and political activist

Albert Camus was a French philosopher, writer, and political activist. He is remembered for work that helped define twentieth-century French thought, and he received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44. His books include The Stranger, The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Fall, and The Rebel. His writing and public work are closely associated with questions of absurdity, moral choice, and political commitment.