Any work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. – Joseph Conrad
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. – Joseph Conrad
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
It is very difficult to be wholly joyous or wholly sad on this earth. The comic, when it is human, soon takes upon itself a face of pain; and some of our grieves… have their source in weaknesses which must be recognized with smiling compassion as the common inheritance of us all. – Joseph Conrad