--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All I maintain is that on this earth…" description: "\"All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/albert-camus-47_childishness_all-i-maintain-is-that-on-this-earth-the_1066631.jpg" --- # All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences… ![“All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. That may sound simple to the point of childishness; I can't judge if it's simple, but I know it's true.” quote by Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/albert-camus-47_childishness_all-i-maintain-is-that-on-this-earth-the_1066631.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/albert-camus-47_childishness_all-i-maintain-is-that-on-this-earth-the_1066631.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/albert-camus-47_childishness_all-i-maintain-is-that-on-this-earth-the_1066631.jpg) > “All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. That may sound simple to the point of childishness; I can't judge if it's simple, but I know it's true.” [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings must resist joining the forces of death and suffering, even if the battle seems naive. **In simple terms:** Do not side with disease or harm. Key Takeaway Avoid supporting harmful systems. Themes responsibility ethics humanity Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - public health policy - community activism - personal choices Key Concepts existentialism solidarity Questions to Reflect On - How do you resist harmful influences? - What actions can you take to protect others? A Different Perspective Complex crises often require more than simple moral choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childishness/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Earth Pestilences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth-pestilences-2634791/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Forces Pestilences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forces-pestilences-2634792/) [Judging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judging/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Pestilence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pestilence/) [Pestilences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pestilences-1587646/) [Pestilences Victims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pestilences-victims-2634793/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) [Victims Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victims-far-2634794/) ## Related quotes > [“All I can say is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims– and as far as possible one must refuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/all-i-can-say-is-that-on-this-earth-there-are-pestilences-and-there/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/everybody-knows-that-pestilences-have-a-way-of-recurring-in-the-world-2/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/everybody-knows-that-pestilences-have-a-way-of-recurring-in-the-world/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Just as plagues were visited on Pharaoh so will pestilences and disasters be visited on the white man. Why, it has already started: God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/just-as-plagues-were-visited-on-pharaoh-so-will-pestilences-and/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Poverty blights whole cities; spreads horrible pestilences; strikes dead the very souls of all who come within sight, sound, or smell of it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/poverty-blights-whole-cities-spreads-horrible-pestilences-strikes/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A study of Disease-of Pestilences methodically prepared and deliberately launched upon man and beast-is certainly being pursue in the laboratories of more than one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/a-study-of-disease-of-pestilences-methodically-prepared-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [A problem with my novels is that they, from the start, have been infantile and incredibly childish. There are childishness, stupidity, lack of wisdom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/a-problem-with-my-novels-is-that-they-from-the-start-have-been/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [Though age from folly could not give me freedom, It does from childishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/though-age-from-folly-could-not-give-me-freedom-it-does-from/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [ Among the great men who have philosophized about \[the action of the tides\], the one who surprised me most is Kepler. He was a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/among-the-great-men-who-have-philosophized-about-the-action-of-the/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [It is mere childishness to expect men to believe as their fathers did; that is, if they have any minds of their own. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/it-is-mere-childishness-to-expect-men-to-believe-as-their-fathers-did/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It was childish to feel disappointed, but childishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-was-childish-to-feel-disappointed-but-childishness-comes-almost-as/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [One cannot overstate the childishness of the ideas that feed and stir the masses. Real ideas must as a rule be simplified to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-haffner/one-cannot-overstate-the-childishness-of-the-ideas-that-feed-and-stir/) [Sebastian Haffner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-haffner/) > [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [“Many adults have not attained maturity — have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/many-adults-have-not-attained-maturity-have-not-mastered-being/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“If you'd only let me come by myself, none of this would have happened. Having you around makes everything worse.' She buried her head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-standiford/if-you-d-only-let-me-come-by-myself-none-of-this-would-have-happened/) [Natalie Standiford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-standiford/) ## More by Albert Camus > [“The whole town rushed outside to celebrate this crowded minute when the time of suffering had ended and the time of forgetting had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-whole-town-rushed-outside-to-celebrate-this-crowded-minute-when/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Being is good, but getting rich is better… If the gods had only the riches of men's adoration, they would be as poor as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/being-is-good-but-getting-rich-is-better-if-the-gods-had-only-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Having been, not only mutilated in our country, wounded in our very flesh, but also divested of our most beautiful images, for you gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/having-been-not-only-mutilated-in-our-country-wounded-in-our-very/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I've seen of enough of people who die for an idea. I don't believe in heroism; I know it's easy and I've learned it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-ve-seen-of-enough-of-people-who-die-for-an-idea-i-don-t-believe-in/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The best are led to make greater demands upon themselves. As for those who succumb, they did not deserve to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-best-are-led-to-make-greater-demands-upon-themselves-as-for-those/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Then he asked me if I wasn’t interested in a change of life. I said that people never change their lives, that in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/then-he-asked-me-if-i-wasn-t-interested-in-a-change-of-life-i-said/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Life is meaningless, but worth living, provided you recognize it's meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/life-is-meaningless-but-worth-living-provided-you-recognize-it-s/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Thinking of the future, establishing aims for oneself, having preferences-all this presupposes a belief in freedom, even if one occasionally ascertains that one doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/thinking-of-the-future-establishing-aims-for-oneself-having/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I explained to him, however, that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-explained-to-him-however-that-my-nature-was-such-that-my-physical/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-only-way-to-deal-with-an-unfree-world-is-to-become-so-absolutely/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“We love people not because for good they did for us, but for good we did for them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/we-love-people-not-because-for-good-they-did-for-us-but-for-good-we/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [You have so much inside you, and the noblest happiness of all. Don’t just wait for a man to come along. That’s the mistake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/you-have-so-much-inside-you-and-the-noblest-happiness-of-all-don-t/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The desire for possession is insatiable, to such a point that it can survive even love itself. To love, therefore, is to sterilize the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-desire-for-possession-is-insatiable-to-such-a-point-that-it-can/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) [Explore all 1,600 Albert Camus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) ## More Childishness quotes > [“If you'd only let me come by myself, none of this would have happened. Having you around makes everything worse.' She buried her head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-standiford/if-you-d-only-let-me-come-by-myself-none-of-this-would-have-happened/) [Natalie Standiford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-standiford/) > [“Many adults have not attained maturity — have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/many-adults-have-not-attained-maturity-have-not-mastered-being/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [One cannot overstate the childishness of the ideas that feed and stir the masses. Real ideas must as a rule be simplified to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-haffner/one-cannot-overstate-the-childishness-of-the-ideas-that-feed-and-stir/) [Sebastian Haffner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-haffner/) > [It was childish to feel disappointed, but childishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-was-childish-to-feel-disappointed-but-childishness-comes-almost-as/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [It is mere childishness to expect men to believe as their fathers did; that is, if they have any minds of their own. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/it-is-mere-childishness-to-expect-men-to-believe-as-their-fathers-did/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [ Among the great men who have philosophized about \[the action of the tides\], the one who surprised me most is Kepler. He was a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/among-the-great-men-who-have-philosophized-about-the-action-of-the/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [Though age from folly could not give me freedom, It does from childishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/though-age-from-folly-could-not-give-me-freedom-it-does-from/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A problem with my novels is that they, from the start, have been infantile and incredibly childish. There are childishness, stupidity, lack of wisdom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/a-problem-with-my-novels-is-that-they-from-the-start-have-been/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [Last scene of all that ends this strange, eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion. I am sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/last-scene-of-all-that-ends-this-strange-eventful-history-is-second/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“On Three Ways of Writing for Children”: When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/on-three-ways-of-writing-for-children-when-i-was-ten-i-read-fairy/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [Childishness? I think it's the equivalent of never losing your sense of humor. I mean, there's a certain something that you retain. It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/childishness-i-think-it-s-the-equivalent-of-never-losing-your-sense/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [“There is so much woman in many a girl and too much boy in many a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/there-is-so-much-woman-in-many-a-girl-and-too-much-boy-in-many-a-man/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Trump taught us how easily seemingly serious people can become profoundly idiotic. He turned career politicians into circus freaks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thor-benson/trump-taught-us-how-easily-seemingly-serious-people-can-become/) [Thor Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thor-benson/) > [Man is brilliant at solving problems; but solving them only makes him the victim of his own childishness and laziness. It is this recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-brilliant-at-solving-problems-but-solving-them-only-makes-him/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) [Browse all 82 Childishness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childishness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. 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