The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

1. The universe lacks a higher power, making life random and meaningless.
2. Albert Camus differentiates his philosophy of absurdism from existentialism.
3. In the face of absurdity, we must avoid false solutions of religion, refuse to submit to the absurd, and live with intensity.

🎨 Impressions

The Myth of Sisyphus, and more generally Camus’ philosophy of absurdism, informed a lot of my beliefs about death and how we might live life. Based upon his rejection of religion or some other higher power, Camus’ assertions build the idea that despite the universe being meaningless, we must continue to live to the fullest. Some of these ideas are contrary to how we might normally operate, like how it discards science as useless if life is irrational, but there’s some beauty behind it as well.

One of the main questions of The Myth of Sisyphus is that of suicide, of whether or not life is worth living. If there’s no meaning or point in doing anything, then why continue living? Thinking about how everything is meaningless is quite soul-crushing, so instead it is our duty to resist it and try to find happiness in our own ways. Camus illustrates that even though we have no higher purpose ordained to us, we are doomed to continuously attempt to find our own sense of purpose. As a result, in this meaningless world, we are like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up a hill each day over and over. But, we must imagine Sisyphus is happy.

In the end, I think The Myth of Sisyphus makes a more compelling case for how to think about life and death than some other philosophies like nihilism. And, personally not being very religious, I think it fits my current outlook on life to some extent.

How I Discovered It

I was first introduced to Camus and absurdism by a couple of friends in high school, but then ended up reading The Myth of Sisyphus for a literature assignment.

Who Should Read It?

I don’t know if many would enjoy the actual writing of The Myth of Sisyphus, being a philosophical essay, but the messages and ideas could be valuable to many.

☘️ How the Book Changed Me

• The ideas within the book really changed my outlook on life and how I live. During high school I moved away from religion and picked up this book during my senior year, giving me a new sense of what life means (or doesn’t).
• A couple years later, I don’t think about the Myth of Sisyphus or absurdism as much, but I do think it has integrated into the background of my view on life.

✍️ My Top Quotes

• “Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.”
• “But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”