--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They believed their words. Everybody…" description: "\"“They believed their words. Everybody shows a respectful deference to certain sounds that he and his fellows can make. But about feelings people really..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/joseph-conrad-336_nobody-knows_they-believed-their-words-everybody-show_870224.jpg" --- # They believed their words. Everybody shows a respectful… ![“They believed their words. Everybody shows a respectful deference to certain sounds that he and his fellows can make. But about feelings people really know nothing. We talk with indignation or enthusiasm; we talk about oppression, cruelty, crime, devotion, self-sacrifice, virtue, and we know…” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/joseph-conrad-336_nobody-knows_they-believed-their-words-everybody-show_870224.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/joseph-conrad-336_nobody-knows_they-believed-their-words-everybody-show_870224.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/joseph-conrad-336_nobody-knows_they-believed-their-words-everybody-show_870224.jpg) > ““They believed their words. Everybody shows a respectful deference to certain sounds that he and his fellows can make. But about feelings people really know nothing. We talk with indignation or enthusiasm; we talk about oppression, cruelty, crime, devotion, self-sacrifice, virtue, and we know nothing real beyond the words. Nobody knows what suffering or sacrifice mean- except, perhaps the victims of the mysterious purpose of these illusions.”” [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. Words can mask true feelings; people discuss abstract concepts without grasping their real emotional weight. **In simple terms:** Talk often hides real experience. Key Takeaway Focus on empathy over rhetoric. Themes communication empathy illusion human experience Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - relationships - political debate - media analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern genuine feeling behind words? - When does language become a barrier? A Different Perspective Words can sometimes convey truth; not all are empty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believed Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-words-945808/) [Feelings People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings-people/) [Indignation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indignation/) [Nobody knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobody-knows/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Sacrifice Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrifice-mean-739430/) [Talk Indignation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk-indignation-945809/) ## Related quotes > [When we undertake a task, we should not falter from first to last until the task is accomplished; if we fail, we should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-yat-sen/when-we-undertake-a-task-we-should-not-falter-from-first-to-last/) [Sun Yat-sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-yat-sen/) > [Often, when we support the 'right' causes and candidates, we fail to recognize that with progress comes sacrifice. That sacrifice might mean that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-shaw/often-when-we-support-the-right-causes-and-candidates-we-fail-to/) [Nina Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-shaw/) > [“You do the easy thing, the appealing thing, the peaceful thing, mostly it turns sour in the end. But if you take the hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/you-do-the-easy-thing-the-appealing-thing-the-peaceful-thing-mostly/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Now, Kieli believed in the words 'no matter what.' Maybe there weren't really any 'no matter whats' in this world, but right now, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukako-kabei/now-kieli-believed-in-the-words-no-matter-what-maybe-there-weren-t/) [Yukako Kabei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukako-kabei/) > [So this is what I am Pondering his eyes that could not Conceive that I was a creature to run from I who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-this-is-what-i-am-pondering-his-eyes-that-could-not-conceive-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Here in flesh and blood was a truth which I had long believed in words, but never met before. The creature we call a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-wister/here-in-flesh-and-blood-was-a-truth-which-i-had-long-believed-in/) [Owen Wister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-wister/) > [ “\[...\] I believed words still had power when they are said by the right people.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/i-believed-words-still-had-power-when-they-are-said-by-the-right/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [“She wasn’t sure if she fully believed the words her therapist had given her to keep in her arsenal, but they helped. 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'Some Day My Prince Will Come,' or 'Blue Skies Smiling at Me' - they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-durham/a-lot-of-my-philosophies-came-from-sheet-music-some-day-my-prince/) [Judith Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-durham/) > [“Yes, if you believed in words, if you lived by words, you had better be careful which words you say and how you say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-godwin/yes-if-you-believed-in-words-if-you-lived-by-words-you-had-better-be/) [Gail Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-godwin/) > [I've always believed the words that came out of my mouth were most comfortable when I'd written them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-ehrlich/i-ve-always-believed-the-words-that-came-out-of-my-mouth-were-most/) [Bob Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-ehrlich/) > [“There too he had been treated with revolting injustice. His struggles, his privations,his hard work to raise himself in the social scale, had filled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/there-too-he-had-been-treated-with-revolting-injustice-his-struggles/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I see the joy in life and I see the joy in simple things. I over-compliment. I over-praise. I over-express my feelings toward people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-lansing/i-see-the-joy-in-life-and-i-see-the-joy-in-simple-things-i-over/) [Sherry Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-lansing/) ## 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 Indignation quotes > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [Dr. Arnold . . . the admired reformer of public schools, came across some cranks who thought it a mistake to flog boys. Anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/dr-arnold-the-admired-reformer-of-public-schools-came-across-some/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The Islamist camp is infused with a righteous indignation, as the forces of old, corrupt and rotten Egypt unite to try and drive them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-blunt/the-islamist-camp-is-infused-with-a-righteous-indignation-as-the/) [Crispin Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-blunt/) > [ Indignation leads to the making of poetry. \[Lat., Facit indignatio versum.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/indignation-leads-to-the-making-of-poetry-lat-facit-indignatio-versum/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION is a manual and a call to action for awakened patriots who are too intelligent to believe the leftist media lies and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/righteous-indignation-is-a-manual-and-a-call-to-action-for-awakened/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [There is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power. The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/there-is-something-on-earth-greater-than-arbitrary-or-despotic-power/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [See, I don’t expect to win a prize for stoic control and dignity at mourning time. Death deserve tantrums. Beating back shocked indignation, kicks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-dee/see-i-don-t-expect-to-win-a-prize-for-stoic-control-and-dignity-at/) [Ruby Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-dee/) > [Black prophetic fire is the hypersensitivity to the suffering of others that generates a righteous indignation that results in the willingness to live and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/black-prophetic-fire-is-the-hypersensitivity-to-the-suffering-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“He is not truly patient who will only suffer as far as seems right to him and from whom he pleases. The truly patient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/he-is-not-truly-patient-who-will-only-suffer-as-far-as-seems-right-to/) [Thomas à Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [I do not know how the affair at Canterbury is generally considered; but I have heard individuals of all parties and all opinions speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/i-do-not-know-how-the-affair-at-canterbury-is-generally-considered/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [You can't dwell on what happened. You can't live even a moment stewing in bitterness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apolo-ohno/you-can-t-dwell-on-what-happened-you-can-t-live-even-a-moment-stewing/) [Apolo Ohno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apolo-ohno/) > [Indignation and determination are much more constructive emotions than shame and embarrassment. 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