Joseph Conrad

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, but fear, too, is not barren of ingenious suggestions.

Perhaps life is just that... a dream and a fear

Of all the inanimate objects, of all men's creations, books are the nearest to us for they contain our very thoughts, our ambitions, our indignations, our illusions, our fidelity to the truth, and our persistent leanings to error. But most of all they resemble us in their precious hold on life.

I remembered the old doctor, - "It would be interesting for science to watch the mental changes of individuals, on the spot." I felt I was becoming scientifically interesting.

Facing it, always facing it, that__ the way to get through. Face it.

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.

I don't think a single one of them had any clear idea of time, as we at the end of countless ages have. They still belonged to the beginnings of time_

Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their surroundings.

All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind.

Going home must be like going to render an account.

The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.

They trespassed upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretense, because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew. Their bearing, which was simply the bearing of commonplace individuals going about their business in the assurance of perfect safety, was offensive to me like the outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger it is unable to comprehend. I had no particular desire to enlighten them, but I had some difficulty in restraining myself from laughing in their faces, so full of stupid importance.

Any work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line.

He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.

It is not the clear-sighted who rule the world. Great achievements are accomplished in a blessed, warm fog.

The last thing a woman will consent to discover in a man whom she loves, or on whom she simply depends, is want of courage.

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.