An Outcast of the Islands

“It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.””

— Joseph Conrad

“A half-naked, betel-chewing pessimist stood upon the bank of the tropical river, on the edge of the still and immense forests; a man angry, powerless, empty-handed, with a cry of bitter discontent ready on his lips; a cry that, had it come out, would have rung through the virgin solitudes of the woods as true, as great, as profound, as any philosophical shriek that ever came from the depths of an easy chair to disturb the impure wilderness of chimneys and roofs.””

— Joseph Conrad

“[T]he tremendous fact of our isolation, of the loneliness impenetrable and transparent, elusive and everlasting; of the indestructible loneliness that surrounds, envelops, clothes every human soul from the cradle to the grave, and, perhaps, beyond.””

— Joseph Conrad

“you whites are so great that you disdain to remember your enemies.””

— Joseph Conrad

“It is written that the earth belongs to those who have fair skins and hard but foolish hearts.””

— Joseph Conrad

“Scruples were for imbeciles. His clear duty was to make himself happy.””

— Joseph Conrad

“He felt soothed and happy, as if some gentle and invisible hand had removed from his soul the burden of his body.””

— Joseph Conrad

“he hated the white men who interfered with the manly pursuits of throat-cutting, kidnapping, slave-dealing, and fire-raising,””

— Joseph Conrad

“he affected great piety (as became a pilgrim), although unable to read the inspired words of the Prophet.””

— Joseph Conrad