--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...most seamen lead, if one may so…" description: "\"“...most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order… In the immutability of their surroundings,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/joseph-conrad-336_expats_most-seamen-lead-if-one-may-so-express-i_2113557.jpg" --- # ...most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary… ![“...most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order… In the immutability of their surroundings, the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful…” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/joseph-conrad-336_expats_most-seamen-lead-if-one-may-so-express-i_2113557.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/joseph-conrad-336_expats_most-seamen-lead-if-one-may-so-express-i_2113557.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/joseph-conrad-336_expats_most-seamen-lead-if-one-may-so-express-i_2113557.jpg) > ““...most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order… In the immutability of their surroundings, the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; ... a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent, and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing.”” [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 quote critiques sailors’ complacent, narrow worldview, suggesting they miss deeper truths because they stay within familiar confines and dismiss broader experiences. **In simple terms:** Sailors stay comfortable and ignore wider truths. Key Takeaway Seek broader perspectives beyond familiar routines. Themes complacency perspective ignorance Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - travel - career - personal growth - education - cross‑cultural interaction Key Concepts existentialism cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How might stepping out of comfort zones change one’s understanding? - What prevents people from seeking deeper knowledge? A Different Perspective The view may overgeneralize sailors and ignore those who do explore. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Expats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expats/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) [Seamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seamen/) ## Related quotes > [“I could be unraveling wherever I'm traveling, even to foreign shores.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-could-be-unraveling-wherever-i-m-traveling-even-to-foreign-shores/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Our foreign policy and our military policy is make sure that we fight on foreign shores and not shores here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-zinke/our-foreign-policy-and-our-military-policy-is-make-sure-that-we-fight/) [Ryan Zinke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-zinke/) > [I do not know whether I have been a good seaman, but I know I have been a very faithful one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-do-not-know-whether-i-have-been-a-good-seaman-but-i-know-i-have/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“(about sailors) Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with them - the ship; and so is their country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/about-sailors-their-minds-are-of-the-stay-at-home-order-and-their/) [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/) > [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 slow rhythm of the body, the insistent rhythm of the wit, were they becoming irreconcilable in modern civilisation? The sedentary life, frustration and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-slow-rhythm-of-the-body-the-insistent-rhythm-of-the-wit-were-they/) [Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/) > [A sedentary life is the real sin against the Holy Spirit. Only those thoughts that come by walking have any value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-sedentary-life-is-the-real-sin-against-the-holy-spirit-only-those/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Though differing greatly from animals and leading a sedentary life there are plants which are said to live for hundreds of years, forming a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-ascott/though-differing-greatly-from-animals-and-leading-a-sedentary-life/) Justin Ascott > [Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabelle-eberhardt/now-more-than-ever-do-i-realize-that-i-will-never-be-content-with-a/) [Isabelle Eberhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabelle-eberhardt/) > [All prejudices may be traced back to the intestines. A sedentary life is the real sin against the Holy Ghost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-prejudices-may-be-traced-back-to-the-intestines-a-sedentary-life/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The sedentary life...is the real sin against the holy spirit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-sedentary-life-is-the-real-sin-against-the-holy-spirit/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [...those who sit at their work and are therefore called 'chair workers,' such as cobblers and tailors, suffer from their own particular diseases ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernardino-ramazzini/those-who-sit-at-their-work-and-are-therefore-called-chair-workers/) [Bernardino Ramazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernardino-ramazzini/) > [For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled, even after 400 generations in villages and cities, we haven't forgotten:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/for-all-its-material-advantages-the-sedentary-life-has-left-us-edgy/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“And it was that when we ceased to depend on small-group gathering...based society to a more sedentary life... that an enormously significant repression... of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-livingston-from-rogue-primate-an-investigation-into-human-domestication/and-it-was-that-when-we-ceased-to-depend-on-small-group-gathering/) John Livingston, from "Rogue Primate: An Investigation Into Human Domestication ## 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. 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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 Expats quotes > ['The Expats' would not exist without e-books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pavone/the-expats-would-not-exist-without-e-books/) [Chris Pavone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pavone/) > [“Random acts of kindness show that even amidst the hustle and bustle, Paris inhabitants are more welcoming that their reputation gives them credit for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-lesage/random-acts-of-kindness-show-that-even-amidst-the-hustle-and-bustle/) [Vicki Lesage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-lesage/) > [“The loneliness of the arab is a terrible thing; it is all consuming. 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And he's there to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesley-m-m-blume/hemingway-is-a-baby-when-he-turns-up-in-paris-but-he-s-an-ambitious/) [Lesley M. M. Blume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesley-m-m-blume/) > ['The Expats' is a thriller, but one that tends more toward general fiction than toward breathless pulp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pavone/the-expats-is-a-thriller-but-one-that-tends-more-toward-general/) [Chris Pavone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pavone/) > [“The white façades of the villas and apartment houses were like blocks of time that had crystallised beside the road.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard-2/the-white-fa-ades-of-the-villas-and-apartment-houses-were-like-blocks/) [J.G. 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