Context

This line is spoken by Dr. Bernard Rieux in the novel The Plague, written by Albert Camus (1947).

Watch out. This quote might make you want to immediately invest in rubber gloves and a jumbo bottle of hand sanitizer. Why? Because it comes from The Plague, a book that gives us the bloody, gooey tale of a nasty plague that rips through a port town in Algiers.

Throughout the story, we follow Dr. Rieux, who does a lot of contemplating while trying to heal the town. In this quote, we can see that Rieux doesn't know if there's any kind of afterlife, or even any purpose in living. Still, his job is to save lives, so that's what he's going to do.

The quote actually touches on the philosophy of Existentialism, with which Camus is often associated (though he didn't necessarily want to be).

Where you've heard it

The most likely place you'll hear this quote is your college class on Existentialism. You can also find it in this book of inspirational quotes for atheists. Hey, who says atheists don't need inspiring too?

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Showing off your knowledge of Camus is definitely going to make people think you're a wee bit pretentious.