“At 30, a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failure – be what he is. And, above all, accept these things.”
Albert Camus
What’s you thoughts on this and how to know yourself and defects and qualities?
Thanks
9 comments
There was no Insta, Tik Tok, Netflix, ads, smartphone notifications, etc. when he wrote that. 30 back then might be 50 or more nowadays.
Based on where one grew up, one’s upbringing, susceptibility to social norms and pressure, etc. that age shouldn’t really mean anything. One should do its best to keep seeking/growing. That goes for men and women. The problem is that we have been almost programmed by society on what our lives should be and look like, conditioning our happiness somehow. It’s pretty wild when you think of it. It also explains why you’d see people supposedly having “everything” on paper to be happy, but feeling empty/dead inside.
Per your question on how: I would start by looking within. Meditation is a good starter. Quiet the chatterbox we constantly live in, divorce yourself daily (even for 5 min to start with) of all distraction, and just “be”. Then before going to bed review your day and ask yourself what went well and what didn’t, what got you angry/happy and why, how did you feel in your head and body, etc. Build the muscle to recognize your state of mind, what led you to it and what got you out of it.
We are inextricably mind, body and spirit. Knowledge nourishes the mind, exercise and a good diet nourishes the body, contemplation/prayer/meditation nourishes the spirit. Because “science” hasn’t proven the spirit exist, we have come to completely disregard what we all know is truth although not scientifically probable: intuition, sixth sense (that feeling you have when you make a decision you knew was going to be a bad one and you kick yourself for not listening to that “thing” that told you you were making a mistake, for instance). Mind, body and spirit are linked and interdependent (a weak body affects the mind, the placebo effect of the mind affects the body, etc.).
Find a way to get more in touch with that non-physical / non-material part of your being, via being a lot more open minded to you being more than your physical body. What do you have to loose entertaining that idea? 🤗
Happy to share more per request, I’ve been at it for a minute now.
Godspeed!
I think it’s a neat ideal but you can’t really rush the journey, nor would you want to. Also, sometimes when that happens you don’t like what you find, and then you have to learn to live with it.
Still, it’s the first quote from Camus that I’ve resonated with at all, so that’s nice.
Yes, I’ll say that I’ve done my self-assessment and benefitting now from it. Read about the “individuation” process. Not easy but everything is not easy in the beginning of rewarding processes.
The successful ones in life have many strategies to plow through life. How much more difficult would it be if someone had no strategies at all? So know yourself and your capacities for starters. When you know where you’re strong and where you’re weak, you’ll be able to take action properly when opportunities present themselves.
I disagree and think that belief is stagnant. I think we are always learning more about ourselves. However, I don’t think everyone is introspective and/or honest with themselves, so maybe the quote has more to do with “should” than practical realities.
Fucking gate keeping. Yes, the second half is true. That is the goal. The time frame has no meaning.
My son at 20 was closer to that then I was at 40.
At 60 I pretty much have this nailed. But I got there with 25 years of counselling, therapy, 12 step programs, hypnotherapy and men’s groups.
It didn’t just magically appear on my 30th birthday.
It’s nonsense, it would mean that by 30 everyone should basically be as enlightened as the Buddha. No one knows all of their weaknesses and strengths, you should have a general idea on who you are by 30, but by no means should you be all knowing.
You learn your qualities and deficits by trying different things, some things you’ll like, some things you won’t like. You won’t know what is what until you’ve tried to do it.
If someone can foretell their own failure then that is one of their deficits in my humble opinion. That isn’t something to be proud off, by saying that they’re going to fail they’re basically saying that they can’t be arsed to try something that will be difficult for them. If they can see why they would fail they should be able to find a way to avoid this failure.
The moment we stop learning new things about ourselves is the moment that we stop living.
Camus was 30 in 1943. The middle of World War 2, the life expectancy in France around that time was 55. So, yeah, by 30 you better have your shit figured out…in 1943.
At the start of my 30s I thought I knew myself pretty thoroughly. Over the course of my twenties, two things happened. First, I discovered things about myself that surprised me. Second, I changed over the years so that my original self-image no longer matched reality.
I don’t think either of those experiences are particularly remarkable or unusual. I don’t know anything about this Camus guy but in general I’d avoid taking advice from a stranger like the plague.
Isn’t this the journey of life? How would it be possible to just have everything figured out at any point in life?
It sounds like one of those quotes somebody could use to justify sitting in a chair and doing nothing in old age.