All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous

“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door.” Thus spoke Albert Camus, the philosopher of light and shadow, who saw in the absurdity of existence not despair, but awakening. These words, drawn from his meditations on the human condition, remind us that greatness seldom enters the world clothed in majesty. It arrives quietly, sometimes foolishly — in laughter, in accident, in the trembling hand of one who dares to begin. For the seed of all that is immortal is sown in moments that seem trivial to the blind but radiant to the wise.

When Camus speaks of ridiculous beginnings, he does not mock them; he honors them. He reveals that the divine spark of creation often hides beneath the garments of chance and imperfection. The world loves to celebrate the finished cathedral but forgets the mud-caked hands that laid its first stone. Every revolution, every philosophy, every song that changes hearts — each begins as an idea half-formed, dismissed by others as folly. Yet this is the sacred law of becoming: that the sublime must first pass through the doorway of the absurd. To create is to risk ridicule, for one must stand where others laugh and say, “I will try.”

Consider the tale of Ludwig van Beethoven, the deaf composer who could no longer hear the music he was born to write. In the quiet of his room, he scribbled notes upon torn paper, muttering to himself as neighbors pitied his madness. To them, his work seemed a ridiculous beginning — the futile gesture of a man chasing sounds he could no longer perceive. Yet from that struggle emerged the Ninth Symphony, a song of triumph sung by humanity itself. What began in isolation and sorrow rose to become a hymn to joy that still resounds across the centuries. Thus, the ridiculous became the radiant.

Camus himself lived by the truth he wrote. Born into poverty in Algeria, the son of an illiterate cleaning woman, he wandered through cafes and streets, observing the laughter and weariness of men. There, in those street corners and revolving doors, he conceived his great works — The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Plague. The world of philosophers looked down upon him at first, seeing only a young man of the colonies, untrained, unrefined. But from the dust of the commonplace he drew forth ideas that challenged the gods themselves. He taught that even in a world without meaning, man can create meaning through courage and compassion.

The street corner of Camus’ saying symbolizes the ordinary life — the place of transit, noise, and chance encounter. The revolving door represents the turning of fate, where one passes from anonymity into purpose without realizing it. There, amid the hum of existence, the spirit of creation stirs. For inspiration is no respecter of thrones or temples; it visits the humble as readily as the mighty. One man’s idle conversation in a café may ignite a movement; one woman’s quiet thought by a window may awaken a generation. Greatness, then, is not born in palaces, but in moments of sincerity — when a soul listens to its own truth, however absurd it may seem.

Therefore, O seeker of meaning, do not despise your small beginnings. Do not wait for perfect conditions or noble surroundings before you act or dream. The ridiculous is but the cradle of the miraculous. Every idea that stirs your heart is a seed of destiny; every humble attempt a step toward eternity. What matters is not the grandeur of your starting point, but the fire of your persistence. Let others mock — they laughed at the Wright brothers’ flying machine, at Galileo’s telescope, at van Gogh’s painted stars. Yet it is the dreamers, not the doubters, who remake the world.

The lesson of Camus is this: life itself may seem absurd, yet in embracing its absurdity, we become free to create. Begin, even if the world calls you foolish. Speak, even if your voice trembles. Build, even if your hands are empty. For in the eyes of time, every great thought and every great deed is but a whisper that dared to become thunder. The revolving door of destiny turns for those who step into it, not those who wait beside it. So go forth — begin your ridiculous beginning — and in doing so, you may awaken the greatness that was waiting within you all along.