--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A writing may be lost; a lie may be…" description: "\"A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the eye has seen is truth and remains in the mind!\" — Joseph Conrad" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg" --- # A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the… ![“A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the eye has seen is truth and remains in the mind!” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg) > “A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the eye has seen is truth and remains in the mind!” [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing with one's own eyes creates an undeniable truth that endures in the mind, unlike written lies or lost writings. **In simple terms:** Personal observation creates lasting truth. Key Takeaway Trust your own observations. Themes truth perception memory reality integrity Mood thoughtful serious inquisitive Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - travel - investigative work - personal reflection - learning - decision making Key Concepts subjectivity experience epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify what you have seen? - When might written accounts be more reliable? A Different Perspective Memory can be unreliable, and perception is subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“9But, as it is written,      l “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,         nor the heart of man imagined,     what God has  m prepared  n for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/9but-as-it-is-written-l-what-no-eye-has-seen-nor-ear-heard-nor-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Want to know the biggest lie ever written? 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bart-yates/want-to-know-the-biggest-lie-ever-written-tis-better-to-have-loved-2/) [Bart Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bart-yates/) > [The old prose writers wrote as if they were speaking to an audience; while, among us, prose is invariably written for the eye alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-old-prose-writers-wrote-as-if-they-were-speaking-to-an-audience/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [“Want to know the biggest lie ever written? ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. What an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bart-yates/want-to-know-the-biggest-lie-ever-written-tis-better-to-have-loved/) [Bart Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bart-yates/) > [Opened up it's revealed! Savour this dont get lost in a lie!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kittie/opened-up-it-s-revealed-savour-this-dont-get-lost-in-a-lie/) [Kittie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kittie/) > [“People don't know how to hear a lie. Even people who are trained to hear the truth. Even professionals. Especially professionals. Especially professionals who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-beverly/people-don-t-know-how-to-hear-a-lie-even-people-who-are-trained-to/) [H.G. Beverly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-beverly/) > [Without the mask where will you hide? I can't find myself, lost in your lie. I know the truth now, I know who you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evanescence/without-the-mask-where-will-you-hide-i-can-t-find-myself-lost-in-your/) [Evanescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evanescence/) > [The heavens and earth stay as they were; my heart Beats as it beat: the truth remains the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/the-heavens-and-earth-stay-as-they-were-my-heart-beats-as-it-beat-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [But perhaps the truth newly discovered is itself only temporary and when new discoveries are made these truths too will be abandoned. But one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shmuel-yosef-agnon/but-perhaps-the-truth-newly-discovered-is-itself-only-temporary-and/) [Shmuel Yosef Agnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shmuel-yosef-agnon/) > [“Liberty is gone, but Truth remains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-f-masters/liberty-is-gone-but-truth-remains/) Raymond F. Masters > [Everything passes, only truth remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everything-passes-only-truth-remains/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“God lives and works in history. The outward mythology changes, the inward truth remains the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/god-lives-and-works-in-history-the-outward-mythology-changes-the/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Lies will always change but the truth remains the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/preddie-rey/lies-will-always-change-but-the-truth-remains-the-same/) Preddie Rey > [“Truth remains hidden to the man filled with desire and hatred” (Buddha)…. Which is to say, to every man alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-m-cioran/truth-remains-hidden-to-the-man-filled-with-desire-and-hatred-buddha/) [Emil M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-m-cioran/) > [The truth remains. I was, and am, disgusted with myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-peters/the-truth-remains-i-was-and-am-disgusted-with-myself/) [Julie Anne Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-peters/) ## 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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/hunters-for-gold-or-pursuers-of-fame-they-all-had-gone-out-on-that/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Let the earth and the sea each have its own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/let-the-earth-and-the-sea-each-have-its-own/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [He hated all this, and somehow he couldn't get away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-hated-all-this-and-somehow-he-couldn-t-get-away/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“A fool, what with sheer fright and fine sentiments, is always safe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-fool-what-with-sheer-fright-and-fine-sentiments-is-always-safe/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-mind-of-man-is-capable-of-anything-because-everything-is-in-it/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their character, their capabilities and their audacities, are only the expression of their belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/few-men-realize-that-their-life-the-very-essence-of-their-character/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Perhaps on some quiet night the tremor of far-off drums, sinking, swelling, a tremor vast, faint; a sound weird, appealing, suggestive and wild -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/perhaps-on-some-quiet-night-the-tremor-of-far-off-drums-sinking/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“All that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/all-that-mysterious-life-of-the-wilderness-that-stirs-in-the-forest/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“The fascination of the abomination—you know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-fascination-of-the-abomination-you-know/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/it-s-only-those-who-do-nothing-that-make-no-mistakes-i-suppose/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-was-a-form-of-human-industry/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-found-myself-back-in-the-sepulchral-city-resenting-the-sight-of/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Society was calling to its accomplished child to come, to be taken care of, to be instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/society-was-calling-to-its-accomplished-child-to-come-to-be-taken/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I was constantly watching myself, my secret self, as dependent on my actions as my own personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-was-constantly-watching-myself-my-secret-self-as-dependent-on-my/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Explore all 645 Joseph Conrad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## More Eye quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [“He blinked. His eyes fell as he processed her response. Then he lifted his chin and attempted a grin that was almost painfully dejected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/he-blinked-his-eyes-fell-as-he-processed-her-response-then-he-lifted/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/clearly-when-we-baptize-our-eyes-should-gaze-beyond-the-baptismal/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) Browse all 16,237 Eye quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the eye has seen is truth and remains in the mind!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Conrad" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-written-but-what-the-eye-has-seen/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eye" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-written-but-what-the-eye-has-seen/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/joseph-conrad-336_eye_a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-writt_2457443.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A writing may be lost; a lie may be written; but what the eye has seen is truth and remains in the mind!” — Joseph Conrad", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joseph Conrad", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A writing may be lost; a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-written-but-what-the-eye-has-seen/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/a-writing-may-be-lost-a-lie-may-be-written-but-what-the-eye-has-seen/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```