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Wisdom Quotes by Joseph Conrad

12 Wisdom quotes by Joseph Conrad

All Wisdom quotes Joseph Conrad’s page

Conrad’s take on wisdom is filtered through the lens of his seafaring narratives and moral complexity. The handful of entries here distill his view on human nature and decision‑making, giving readers a quick taste of the author’s stark, reflective voice.

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A fool has more ideas than a wise man can foresee.

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Any fool can carry on, but only the wise man knows how to shorten sail.

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“One must not make too much of anything in life, good or bad.”

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Any fool can carry on, but a wise man knows how to shorten sail in time.

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“And after some talk we agreed that the wisdom of rats had been grossly overrated, being in fact no greater than that…

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He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of…

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And perhaps in this is the whole difference; perhaps all the wisdom, and all truth, and all sincerity, are just compressed into…

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“It would have been so much in accordance with the wisdom of life, which consists in putting out of sight all the…

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The artist appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a…

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“True wisdom, which is not certain of anything in this world of contradictions, would have prevented him from attaining his present position.…

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“But the artist appeals to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is…

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“Droll thing life is—that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some…

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More by Joseph Conrad

“Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame, they all had gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of…

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The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.

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“Let the earth and the sea each have its own.”

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He hated all this, and somehow he couldn't get away.

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“A fool, what with sheer fright and fine sentiments, is always safe.”

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“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…

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Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief…

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“Perhaps on some quiet night the tremor of far-off drums, sinking, swelling, a tremor vast, faint; a sound weird, appealing, suggestive and wild -…

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“All that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men.”

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“The fascination of the abomination—you know.”

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

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“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world;…

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I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each…

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Society was calling to its accomplished child to come, to be taken care of, to be instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it…

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I was constantly watching myself, my secret self, as dependent on my actions as my own personality

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