The Long Detour
“We had to take a long detour and we are far behind. It is a detour that the regard for truth imposes on intelligence, the regard for friendship at its core.” ALBERT CAMUS · LETTERS TO A GERMAN FRIEND
Camus is explaining, in the middle of the occupation, why his side took so long to fight back. The accusation from the other side was simple. While you hesitated and argued about methods, we acted. We were decisive and you were slow, and look where that got you.
His answer does not deny the charge. We had to take a long detour, he says, and we are far behind. He concedes the delay completely.
What he does instead is explain what the detour was for. It was imposed by a regard for truth and by a regard for friendship. His side kept stopping to ask whether what they were about to do could be justified. They refused to lie about their own cause. That takes time, and the people willing to skip those steps got a considerable head start.
This is worth having when you are behind. Some slowness is laziness and some is the price of doing a thing honestly, and the two feel identical from the inside. The difference is whether you can name what the extra time bought.
Camus never claimed the detour was free. He claimed it was the road.
If you are behind somebody who cut a corner you would not cut, name exactly what your slower route is protecting.
