--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not know whether I have been a good…" description: "\"I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I know I have been a very faithful one.\" — Joseph Conrad" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg" --- # I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I… ![“I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I know I have been a very faithful one.” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg) > “I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I know I have been a very faithful one.” [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. He is uncertain about his seamanship but knows he has been loyal. **In simple terms:** Loyalty despite doubt about skill Key Takeaway Value loyalty while seeking self‑improvement. Themes loyalty self‑assessment maritime Mood thoughtful serious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - naval service - leadership decisions - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts Moral integrity personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance loyalty with competence? - When should you seek help to improve? A Different Perspective Loyalty may not compensate for lack of competence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faithful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faithful/) [Good Seaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-seaman-5820318/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Know Faithful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-faithful-319836/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Seaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seaman/) [Seaman Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seaman-know-5820319/) [Seamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seamen/) ## Related quotes > [ He \[Columbus\] enjoyed long stretches of pure delight such as only a seaman may know, and moments of high, proud exultation that only a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-eliot-morison/he-columbus-enjoyed-long-stretches-of-pure-delight-such-as-only-a/) [Samuel Eliot Morison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-eliot-morison/) > [One ship is very much like another and the sea is always the same. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/one-ship-is-very-much-like-another-and-the-sea-is-always-the-same-in/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The humblest craft that floats makes its appeal to a seaman by the faithfulness of her life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-humblest-craft-that-floats-makes-its-appeal-to-a-seaman-by-the/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Put together a seaman, soldier and airman and what do you get? The sum of all fears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/put-together-a-seaman-soldier-and-airman-and-what-do-you-get-the-sum/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [For every Seaman of Industry and Ingenuity, is not only a Navigator, but a Merchant, and also a Soldier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/for-every-seaman-of-industry-and-ingenuity-is-not-only-a-navigator/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Recollect that you must be a seaman to be an officer and also that you cannot be a good officer without being a gentleman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/recollect-that-you-must-be-a-seaman-to-be-an-officer-and-also-that/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [The problem men seem to have, and women, too, is that they have this very structured idea that we should find a partner and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-kendal/the-problem-men-seem-to-have-and-women-too-is-that-they-have-this/) [Felicity Kendal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-kendal/) > [He that is thy friend indeed, He will help thee in thy need: If thou sorrow, he will weep; If thou wake, he cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/he-that-is-thy-friend-indeed-he-will-help-thee-in-thy-need-if-thou/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/he-was-a-seaman-but-he-was-a-wanderer-too-while-most-seamen-lead-if/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“...for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/for-there-is-nothing-mysterious-to-a-seaman-unless-it-be-the-sea-2/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“After all, for a seaman, to scrape the bottom of the thing that's supposed to float all the time under his care is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/after-all-for-a-seaman-to-scrape-the-bottom-of-the-thing-that-s/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [...for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/for-there-is-nothing-mysterious-to-a-seaman-unless-it-be-the-sea/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/there-is-nothing-mysterious-to-a-seaman-unless-it-be-the-sea-itself/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes and should just support that, you know, and be faithful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britney-spears/honestly-i-think-we-should-just-trust-our-president-in-every-decision/) [Britney Spears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britney-spears/) > [I had to learn how to be faithful. When I was dating around and moving from woman to woman, I did not understand and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-gaskins/i-had-to-learn-how-to-be-faithful-when-i-was-dating-around-and-moving/) [Tony Gaskins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-gaskins/) ## 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 Faithful quotes > [Females always say, you can't turn a hoe into a house wife, but steady be trying to turn a dog into a faithful man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/females-always-say-you-can-t-turn-a-hoe-into-a-house-wife-but-steady/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [Being faithful shouldn't be challenging, cheating should. Too bad its the other way around though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-faithful-shouldn-t-be-challenging-cheating-should-too-bad-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/believe-to-the-end-even-if-all-men-went-astray-and-you-were-left-the/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“The characteristics of this kind of reading are perhaps summed up in the word “orthodox,” which is almost always applicable. The word comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-j-adler/the-characteristics-of-this-kind-of-reading-are-perhaps-summed-up-in/) [Mortimer J. Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-j-adler/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/who-can-really-be-faithful-in-great-things-if-he-has-not-learned-to/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [If you can't tame your man sexually you don't have a chance of ever having a FAITHFUL MAN, it's not right but it's truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-can-t-tame-your-man-sexually-you-don-t-have-a-chance-of-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“True humility is fearless honesty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/true-humility-is-fearless-honesty/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [One of the achievements of the reform movement is that people realize that they can be democrats and remain faithful Muslims. Democracy is now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdolkarim-soroush/one-of-the-achievements-of-the-reform-movement-is-that-people-realize/) [Abdolkarim Soroush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdolkarim-soroush/) > [I'm practicing a kind of meandering faith, or faithful meandering. I just trust that something is coming. I don't know what it is. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jones/i-m-practicing-a-kind-of-meandering-faith-or-faithful-meandering-i/) [Sarah Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jones/) > [All great expression, which on a superficial survey seems so easy as well as so simple, furnishes after a while, to the faithful observer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/all-great-expression-which-on-a-superficial-survey-seems-so-easy-as/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [If you are spiritual and faithful about your situation, you'll make it through it. And my life is a testimony to that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-d-o-c/if-you-are-spiritual-and-faithful-about-your-situation-you-ll-make-it/) [The D.O.C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-d-o-c/) > [“Courage is being who you are. Courage is sacred of thyself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/courage-is-being-who-you-are-courage-is-sacred-of-thyself/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Once you let them establish their ideology in you, they will drive you crazy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/once-you-let-them-establish-their-ideology-in-you-they-will-drive-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) [Browse all 1,733 Faithful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faithful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I know I have been a very faithful one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Conrad" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good-seaman-but-i-know-i-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Faithful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good-seaman-but-i-know-i-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/475/joseph-conrad-336_faithful_i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good_1554846.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I know I have been a very faithful one.” — 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": "I do not know whether I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good-seaman-but-i-know-i-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good-seaman-but-i-know-i-have/#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 } } ] } ```