The Science of Jessica

Humanity In general, the crowd, can offer nothing. It was treason to believe the opposite. We die alone. They are all going to die alone. Let the man who is alone at least keep his scorn, and the ability to pick out from this terrible ordeal what serves his own greatness.

Accept the ordeal and everything which it entails. But swear, in the least noble of tasks, to perform only the noblest of actions. And real nobility (that of the heart) is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference.

—Albert Camus, Notebook III (April 1939-February 1942), Camus Notebooks 1935-1942 (via gaws)