The ethical view of the universe involves us in so many cruel and absurd contradictions that I have come to suspect that the aim of creation cannot be ethical at all. Joseph Conrad More Quotes by Joseph Conrad More Quotes From Joseph Conrad It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it’s just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome. Joseph Conrad majorityeyelife Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality. Joseph Conrad speechwritingreality We live as we dream - alone. Joseph Conrad dreamerdreamlove Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life. Joseph Conrad imaginationwritingart Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys. Joseph Conrad gossipclaimsreality In order to move others deeply we must deliberately allow ourselves to be carried away beyond the bounds of our normal sensibility. Joseph Conrad literatureordermoving A word carries far, very far, deals destruction through time as the bullets go flying through space. Joseph Conrad bulletsflyingspace Reality, as usual, beats fiction out of sight. Joseph Conrad usualsightreality The sea - this truth must be confessed - has no generosity. No display of manly qualities - courage, hardihood, endurance, faithfulness - has ever been known to touch its irresponsible consciousness of power. Joseph Conrad generositypowersea What makes mankind tragic is not that they are the victims of nature, it is that they are conscious of it. Joseph Conrad tragicvictimconscious The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. Joseph Conrad racismpeacemean It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self knowledge. Joseph Conrad shadowselfmen I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. Joseph Conrad clamourcontestsimagine But it is like a running blaze on a plain, like a flash of lightning in the clouds. We live in the flicker - may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! Joseph Conrad lightningcloudslife My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you see. That — and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there according to your deserts: encouragement, consolation, fear, charm — all you demand; and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask. Joseph Conrad glimpseencouragementtrying We can never cease to be ourselves. Joseph Conrad cease There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea. Joseph Conrad armyoceanlife It is the mark of an inexperienced man not to believe in luck. Joseph Conrad good-luckmenbelieve He struggled with himself, too. I saw it -- I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself. Joseph Conrad sawssoulstruggle I am afraid that if you want to go down into history you'll have to do something for it. Joseph Conrad ifswant
