All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. Joseph Conrad More Quotes by Joseph Conrad More Quotes From Joseph Conrad I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. It takes place in an impalpable greyness, with nothing underfoot, with nothing around, without spectators, without clamour, without glory, without the great desire of victory, without the great fear of defeat, in a sickly atmostphere of tepid scepticism, without much belief in your own right, and still less in that of your adversary. Joseph Conrad victory belief desire Your strength is just an accident owed to the weakness of others. Joseph Conrad accidents weakness strength To have his path made clear for him is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence. Joseph Conrad enlightenment literature path That's why love is so inseparable from any talk about truth and death, because we know that love is fundamentally a death of an old self that was isolated and the emergence of a new self Joseph Conrad falling-in-love self love-is Everything belonged to him--but that was a trifle. The thing to know was what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own. Joseph Conrad heart-of-darkness trifles darkness The artist appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a gift and not an acquisition-and therefore, more permanently enduring. He speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty and pain. Joseph Conrad acquisition pain art It occurred to me that my speech or my silence, indeed any action of mine, would be a mere futility. Joseph Conrad speech silence would-be The moon had spread over everything a thin layer of silver - over the rank grass, over the mud, upon the wall of matted vegetation standing higher than the wall of a temple, over the great river I could see through a sombre gap glittering, glittering, as it flowed broadly by without a murmur. All this was great, expectant, mute, while the man jabbered about himself. Joseph Conrad wall moon men Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it. Joseph Conrad cheer-up army courage It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun. It is as if loneliness were a hard and absolute condition of existence; the envelope of flesh and blood on which our eyes are fixed melts before the outstretched hand, and there remains only the capricious, unconsolable and elusive spirit that no eye can follow, no hand can grasp. Joseph Conrad stars loneliness eye The atmosphere of officialdom would kill anything that breathes the air of human endeavour, would extinguish hope and fear alike in the supremacy of paper and ink. Joseph Conrad atmosphere paper air All creative art is magic , is evocation of the unseen in forms persuasive, enlightening, familiar and surprising, for the edification of mankind , pinned down by the conditions of its existence to the earnest consideration of the most insignificant tides of reality . Joseph Conrad creativity reality art A man that is born falls into a dream like a man who falls into the sea. If he tries to climb out into the air as inexperienced people endeavor to do, he drowns. Joseph Conrad dream love fall Joy and sorrow in this world pass into each other, mingling their forms and their murmurs in the twilight of life as mysterious as an overshadowed ocean, while the dazzling brightness of supreme hopes lies far off, fascinating and still, on the distant edge of the horizon Joseph Conrad ocean twilight lying Hang ideas! They are tramps, vagabonds, knocking at the back-door of your mind, each taking a little of your substance, each carrying away some crumb of that belief in a few simple notions you must cling to if you want to live decently and would like to die easy! Joseph Conrad simple doors ideas No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one’s existence--that which makes its truth, its meaning--its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream--alone. Joseph Conrad essence dream life Only in men's imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life. Joseph Conrad writing life art Let a fool be made serviceable according to his folly. Joseph Conrad folly fool made We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness Joseph Conrad heart-of-darkness darkness heart Perhaps life is just that... a dream and a fear. Joseph Conrad fear dream life
