Famous philosopher and writer Albio Camus He was also a good goalkeeper. He has a very famous quote where he said that what he knows about human morality and responsibility, he learned from football. Camus’ deep love for football can be understood through the struggle of his intellectual life. In the mid-fifties, he felt that some intellectuals, isolated from society, had forgotten the real world and were only involved in certain theories and ideals. According to Camus, many people supported terrible ideologies like communism because they valued their theories more than real-life people.
At that time, Camus began to believe that the thinking of the Parisian intellectuals was far removed from real life. For him, Paris was a city full of lies and slander, where people were cut off from true sorrow and joy. So, when he returned to Algeria away from publicity after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, a taxi driver recognized him not as a famous writer but as a former goalkeeper of the RUA football team. This made Camus very happy.
Camus’s 1956 novel The Fall features a character named Jean-Baptiste Clemence, whose life is similar to Camus’ own. The character, Clemens says, has never been so earnest and active other than on the field. He also said that he feels completely innocent only on the stage of a theater and in a stadium full of spectators for a Sunday football match.
At the same time, a magazine of ex-RUA players asked Camus to write something about his playing days. In reply, he wrote that the world had given him a lot of experience, yet he must have learned what he knew about human morality and responsibility while with the RUA team. With this statement he expressed his disillusionment with his time in Paris and rejected the unrealistic claims of other intellectuals. He meant that the atmosphere of a football match was far more honest and moral than the smoke-filled cafes of Paris. While many intellectuals scorned football or other sports as childish, Camus respected sports as one of the best means of approaching and truly understanding life.