--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anything approaching the change that came…" description: "\"Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/joseph-conrad-336_change_anything-approaching-the-change-that-cam_1086698.jpg" --- # Anything approaching the change that came over his… ![“Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror--of an…” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/joseph-conrad-336_change_anything-approaching-the-change-that-cam_1086698.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/joseph-conrad-336_change_anything-approaching-the-change-that-cam_1086698.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/joseph-conrad-336_change_anything-approaching-the-change-that-cam_1086698.jpg) > “Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror--of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision--he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: The horror! The horror!” [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. The narrator describes an overwhelming, terrifying revelation that shatters his perception, exposing deep despair and horror. **In simple terms:** A profound, terrifying revelation reveals deep despair Key Takeaway Recognize moments that expose hidden truths Themes existential psychology despair Mood haunting introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis - artistic inspiration - philosophical inquiry Key Concepts nihilism self‑realization Questions to Reflect On - What hidden truths have you faced? - How do you cope with existential horror? A Different Perspective The insight may be overwhelming and destabilizing ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breath Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breath-horror-1310734/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Cried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cried/) [Cried Twice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cried-twice-2788232/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Details](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/details/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Hopeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopeless/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Ivory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ivory/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Temptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temptation/) [Terror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terror/) [Veils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/veils/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) [Vision Cried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision-cried-2788231/) ## Related quotes > [“One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, "I am lying here in the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/one-evening-coming-in-with-a-candle-i-was-startled-to-hear-him-say-a/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“I think the knowledge came to him at last — only at the very last. But the wilderness had found him out early, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-think-the-knowledge-came-to-him-at-last-only-at-the-very-last-but/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I have cried twice in my life watching a football player; the first one was Maradona and the second was Ryan Giggs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alessandro-del-piero/i-have-cried-twice-in-my-life-watching-a-football-player-the-first/) [Alessandro Del Piero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alessandro-del-piero/) > [“The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-word-ivory-rang-in-the-air-was-whispered-was-sighed-you-would-2/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-word-ivory-rang-in-the-air-was-whispered-was-sighed-you-would/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Beauty is an evil in an ivory setting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theocritus/beauty-is-an-evil-in-an-ivory-setting/) [Theocritus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theocritus/) > [The ivory tower of the artist may be the only stronghold left for human values, cultural treasures, man’s cult of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-ivory-tower-of-the-artist-may-be-the-only-stronghold-left-for/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Our problem with limited resources is not primarily overpopulation; it is greed. Our problem with pollution is not the invention of fluorocarbons or mass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winkie-pratney/our-problem-with-limited-resources-is-not-primarily-overpopulation-it/) [Winkie Pratney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winkie-pratney/) > [More birds have adapted to a changing world than have failed. Very few have the narrow tolerance of the ivory-billed woodpecker or the Bachman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-tory-peterson/more-birds-have-adapted-to-a-changing-world-than-have-failed-very-few/) [Roger Tory Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-tory-peterson/) > [The majority of the cocoa that we eat, it is actually produced by young kids which are being enslaved in the plantations of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-napoleoni/the-majority-of-the-cocoa-that-we-eat-it-is-actually-produced-by/) [Loretta Napoleoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-napoleoni/) > [As for mathematicians themselves: don't expect too much help. Most of them are too far removed in their ivory towers to take up such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apostolos-doxiadis/as-for-mathematicians-themselves-don-t-expect-too-much-help-most-of/) [Apostolos Doxiadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apostolos-doxiadis/) > [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I remember watching the mascara tears flood the ivories and I thought, "It's OK to be sad." I've been trained to love my darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/i-remember-watching-the-mascara-tears-flood-the-ivories-and-i-thought/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [To become a celebrity is to become a brand name. There is Ivory Soap, Rice Krispies, and Philip Roth. Ivory is the soap that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/to-become-a-celebrity-is-to-become-a-brand-name-there-is-ivory-soap/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) ## 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 Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn't touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror--of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision--he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath: The horror! 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