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I think the ending where it says people went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views really relates to today.

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What stood out to me were the themes of denial and selfishness found in this quote. These ideas are extremely relevant now more than ever. When we turn on the news now we see people without masks on or outright denying covid's existence, and it’s interesting to see how real life mirrored in the contents of this book.

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The part that stood out to me was "Stupidity has a knack of getting its way". I feel like this is a very true statment that can be made through all human history. I think that is something humans will never be able to get away from. Stupidity has always interfered with our choices at some point.

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Stupidity  does get in the way of commons sense way too often. We see that now most of all, where individuals ignore the signs of pestilence and continue their lives doing business, arranged for journeys and formed views. Wear a mask don’t wear a mask, Pandemic Plandemic, the same themes in this novel revolving around humanists is still present today. The idea of disregarding a fatal disease stopping every day norms is a humanist idea.

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I think it's very interesting that he compared war to pestilence, how they are both brought about by peoples lack of attention to important signs around them. Like when he says people kept on going about their business as if the plague didn't even exist. Speaking of these last sentences it is very symbolic of how the pandemic is being dealt with in America.

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"Stupidity has a knack of getting its way" I think this really stood out to me because it has become more and more relevant to our lives. Camus is writing about a time that is so different yet so similar to today and it is unnervingly easy to draw parallels to what he has written and what we are living. This idea that stupidity is interesting because everyone has their own take on what stupidity is. everyone has a different level of education and understanding of the world so stupidity is based on the individuals perspective of what the smart choices are.

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I think it is a little wacky that his connection of war and pestilence is so relevant to the past 7 months. Thinking about how people thought it was "stupid" and "couldn't last long". It is also interesting how pestilence is defined in different contexts. Like to the people they were impossible and something that was just a bad dream type of thing.

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Something that stood out me was towards the end when it says although the plague was going on people continued with their lives. This is very relevant because it reminds me a lot of what is going on today.

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A part that stood out to me was "When a war breaks out, people say: 'It's too stupid: it can't last long'...Stupidity has a knack of getting its way:..."(Camus 37). I've noticed that even when covid became prominent here, I as well as others would say things along the same line of it being stupid. No one thought it would last as long as it did, but stupid is stubborn and won't disappear simply because we perceive it as foolish.

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One passage that stood out to me the most was, "They went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views. How should they have given a thought to anything like plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views"( Camus 37). This passage stood out to be because I can see parallels from this passage to our world now.

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I think what stands out to me in the passage is how the narrator is focusing on war and especially pestilence so much along with the idea in the last part about a person being free and how you can't be if there is still humanist views like pestilence.

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the sentence about them thinking of themselves as free seems even more relevant today than ever. I think that there is also more relevance than ever to the statement that stupidity has a knack for getting its way. I think the idea that pestilence and war thrive off stupidity couldn't be more true

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What stood out to me about this is how the narrator considers disbelieving in pestilences to be a humanist idea. He sees the townsfolk as humanists, and he seems to define their humanism based on them being wrapped up in themselves and their disbelief of these said pestilences.
Additionally, a specific passage that stood out to me was "Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be modest, that was all..." How does modesty tie into humanism? And how does it connect to the townsfolk and their disbelief of pestilences?

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In fact, like our fellow citizen, Rieux was caught off his guard, and we should understand his hesitations in the light of this fact; and similarly understand how he was torn between conflicting fears and confidence.  When a war breaks out, people say: “It’s too stupid: it can’t last long.”  But though a war may well be “too stupid,” that doesn’t prevent its lasting.  Stupidity has a knack of getting its way: as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves. In this respect our townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words they were humanists: they disbelieved in pestilences.  A pestilence isn’t a thing made to man’s measure; therefore we tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away.  But it doesn’t always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away and the humanists first of all, because they haven’t taken their precautions.  Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be modest, that was all, and thought that everything still was possible for them; which presupposed that pestilences were impossible.  They went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views.  How should they have given a thought to anything like plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views.  They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences.  

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In fact, like our fellow citizen, Rieux was caught off his guard, and we should understand his hesitations in the light of this fact; and similarly understand how he was torn between conflicting fears and confidence.  When a war breaks out, people say: “It’s too stupid: it can’t last long.”  But though a war may well be “too stupid,” that doesn’t prevent its lasting.  Stupidity has a knack of getting its way: as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves. In this respect our townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words they were humanists: they disbelieved in pestilences.  A pestilence isn’t a thing made to man’s measure; therefore we tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away.  But it doesn’t always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away and the humanists first of all, because they haven’t taken their precautions.  Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be modest, that was all, and thought that everything still was possible for them; which presupposed that pestilences were impossible.  They went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views.  How should they have given a thought to anything like plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views.  They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences.  