Dr. Rieux, the quiet hero of The Plague, says this when someone tries to praise his courage. He deflects. He is not being modest. He genuinely does not see what he is doing as heroic. He is a doctor. People are sick. He shows up. That is all.

We have built a culture that celebrates extraordinary acts and overlooks ordinary ones. We hand out awards for dramatic gestures while ignoring the person who simply does their job with care, day after day, without fanfare. We treat decency as though it is not enough, as though it needs to be scaled up into something more impressive before it counts.

Camus pushes back against this. Through Rieux, he suggests that the most authentic response to suffering is not some grand heroic stance but the steady, unglamorous practice of doing what needs to be done. Showing up. Paying attention. Treating people with basic respect even when it is difficult and no one is watching.

Common decency is not a lesser form of goodness. It is the foundation. Everything else, including heroism, is built on top of it or it is built on nothing.