Society was calling to its accomplished child to come, to be taken care of, to be instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it called him to return to that rubbish heap from which he had wandered away, so that justice could be done. Joseph Conrad More Quotes by Joseph Conrad More Quotes From Joseph Conrad The true peace of God begins at any spot a thousand miles from the nearest land. Joseph Conrad ocean land sea Life knows us not and we do not know life—-we don’t know even our own thoughts. Half the words we use have no meaning whatever and of the other half each man understands each word after the fashion of his own folly and conceit. Faith is a myth and beliefs shift like mists on the shore; thoughts vanish; words, once pronounced, die; and the memory of yesterday is as shadowy as the hope of tomorrow Joseph Conrad fashion men memories The mind of man is capable of anything--because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valor, rage--who can tell?--but truth--truth stripped of its cloak of time. Joseph Conrad joy men past Some great men owe most of their greatness to the ability of detecting in those they destine for their tools the exact quality of strength that matters for their work. Joseph Conrad greatness business men The sea never changes and its works, for all the talks of men, are wrapped in mystery. Joseph Conrad nature men travel For all that has been said of the love that certain natures (on shore) have professed for it, for all the celebrations it has been the object of in prose and song, the sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness. Joseph Conrad sea song men Violence is not a catalyst but a diversion. Joseph Conrad catalyst diversion violence The interior deprives men of their senses. Here, the eerie stillness of the wilderness and the darkness of night render the men both deaf and blind. Without eyes or ears, they have no frame of reference-and without a frame of reference, they have no clear identities. Joseph Conrad eye men night Who knows what true loneliness is - not the conventional word but the naked terror? To the lonely themselves it wears a mask. The most miserable outcast hugs some memory or some illusion. Joseph Conrad lonely loneliness memories There is, as every schoolboy knows in this scientific age, a very close chemical relation between coal and diamonds. It is the reason, I believe, why some people allude to coal as "black diamonds." Both these commodities represent wealth; but coal is a much less portable form of property. Joseph Conrad believe book people The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come and wait for the turn of the tide. Joseph Conrad anchors rivers wind Some of us, regarding the ocean with understanding and affection, have seen it looking old, as if the immemorial ages had been stirred up from the undisturbed bottom of ooze. For it is a gale of wind that makes the sea look old. Joseph Conrad ocean sea wind In the empty immensity of earth, sky, and water, there she was, incomprehensible, firing into a continent. Joseph Conrad sky water travel There are men here and there to whom the whole of life is like an after-dinner hour with a cigar; easy, pleasant, empty, perhaps enlivened by some fable of strife to be forgotten - before the end is told - even if there happens to be any end to it. Joseph Conrad here-and-there men life A modern fleet of ships does not so much make use of the sea as exploit a highway. Joseph Conrad use sea doe For a bag of pepper, they could cut each other's throats without hesitation, and would forswear their souls... The bizarre obstinacy of that desire made them defy death in a thousand shapes; the unknown seas, the loathsome diseases; wounds, captivity, hunger, pestilence and despair. It made them great! By heavens! It made them heroic; and it made them pathetic, too, in their craving for trade with the inflexible death levying its toll on young and old Joseph Conrad cutting sea heaven Yet, when one thinks of it, diplomacy without force is a but a rotten reed to lean upon. Joseph Conrad reeds rotten thinking One can't live with one's finger everlastingly on one's pulse. Joseph Conrad fingers pulse The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. Joseph Conrad darkness heart water The revolutionary spirit is mighty convenient in this, that it frees one from all scruples as regards ideas. Joseph Conrad revolution spirit ideas
