--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It…" description: "\"“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world; it was ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08a/joseph-conrad-336_different-ways_thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-wa_46090.jpg" --- # Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human… ![“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world; it was work undertaken for the same reason as the work in potteries, in coal mines, in fields, in tool-grinding shops. It was labour, whose practical…” quote by Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08a/joseph-conrad-336_different-ways_thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-wa_46090.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08a/joseph-conrad-336_different-ways_thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-wa_46090.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08a/joseph-conrad-336_different-ways_thieving-was-not-a-sheer-absurdity-it-wa_46090.jpg) > ““Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world; it was work undertaken for the same reason as the work in potteries, in coal mines, in fields, in tool-grinding shops. It was labour, whose practical difference from the other forms of labour consisted in the nature of its risk, which did not lie in ankylosis, or lead poisoning, or fire-damp, or gritty dust, but in what may be briefly defined in its own special phraseology as "Seven years' hard". Chief Inspector Heat was, of course, not insensible to the gravity of moral differences. But neither were the thieves he had been looking after. They submitted to the severe sanction of a morality familiar to Chief Inspector Heat with a certain resignation. They were his fellow citizens gone wrong because of imperfect education, Chief Inspector Heat believed; but allowing for that difference, he could understand the mind of a burglar, because, as a matter of fact, the mind and the instincts of a burglar are of the same kind as the mind and the instincts of a police officer. Both recognize the same conventions, and have a working knowledge of each other's methods and of the routine of their respective trades. They understand each other, which is advantageous to both, and establishes a sort of amenity in their relations. Products of the same machine, one classed as useful and the other as noxious, they take the machine for granted in different ways, but with a seriousness essentially the same. The mind of Chief Inspector Heat was inaccessible to ideas of revolt. But his thieves were not rebels. His bodily vigour, his cool, inflexible manner, his courage, and his fairness, had secured for him much respect and some adulation in the sphere of his early successes. He had felt himself revered and admired. And Chief Inspector Heat, arrested within six paces of the anarchist nicknamed the Professor, gave a thought of regret to the world of thieves--sane, without morbid ideals, working by routine, respectful of constituted authorities, free from all taint of hate and despair.”” [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. Thievery is portrayed as a legitimate labor within an industrial society, driven by socioeconomic forces rather than pure immorality. **In simple terms:** Crime as work in an industrial world Key Takeaway Crime can be a rational response to systemic pressures Themes social inequality morality labor economics crime sociology industrialization Mood reflective critical somber Type philosophical sociological literary When to use this quote - urban poverty - law enforcement training - rehabilitation programs - policy debates on crime - sociological research Key Concepts structural determinism role reversal ethical relativism institutional critique Practical Applications - criminal justice reform - comparative criminology studies Questions to Reflect On - What societal factors transform theft into a form of labor? - How does viewing criminals as workers change punitive approaches? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Differences Thieves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences-thieves-673670/) [Different ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-ways/) [Inspector](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspector/) [Inspector Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspector-heat-673669/) [Matter of fact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter-of-fact/) [Police officer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police-officer/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Thieving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thieving/) [Thieving Sheer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thieving-sheer-673671/) ## Related quotes > [“The encounter did not leave behind with Chief Inspector Heat that satisfactory sense of superiority the members of the police force get from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-encounter-did-not-leave-behind-with-chief-inspector-heat-that/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“His instinct of a successful man had taught him long ago that, as a general rule, a reputation is built on manner as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/his-instinct-of-a-successful-man-had-taught-him-long-ago-that-as-a/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Dentists, lawyers, doctors are all a bunch of thieving bastards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/dentists-lawyers-doctors-are-all-a-bunch-of-thieving-bastards/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [“Where the heck was I while you were playing Grand Theft Cellar?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/where-the-heck-was-i-while-you-were-playing-grand-theft-cellar/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [I suggest that we are thieves in a way. If I take anything that I do not need for my own immediate use, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-suggest-that-we-are-thieves-in-a-way-if-i-take-anything-that-i-do/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Want of money and the distress of a thief can never be alleged as the cause of his thieving, for many honest people endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/want-of-money-and-the-distress-of-a-thief-can-never-be-alleged-as-the/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“One has thieving intention himself, otherwise no one can ever steal from him; no one can ever rob him. One’s own intention does the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/one-has-thieving-intention-himself-otherwise-no-one-can-ever-steal/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Everyday there's more death, and plus I'm doughless. I'm seeing more reasons for me to proceed with thieving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/everyday-there-s-more-death-and-plus-i-m-doughless-i-m-seeing-more/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“His chief form of entertainment was reading. The last moments he was in a cabin were usually spent scanning bookshelves and nightstands. The life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/his-chief-form-of-entertainment-was-reading-the-last-moments-he-was/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [“I flow like a butter in the nailed pan I stole. I also kept the nail, to polish and use as a means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/i-flow-like-a-butter-in-the-nailed-pan-i-stole-i-also-kept-the-nail/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) > [“Thieving has deep roots among these people. Back when I was traveling in Russia I was robbed of nearly everything that could be stolen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thieving-has-deep-roots-among-these-people-back-when-i-was-traveling/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/there-is-sublime-thieving-in-all-giving-someone-gives-us-all-he-has/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I am convinced that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown. These take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-convinced-that-if-all-men-were-to-live-as-simply-as-i-then-did/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [This is the lying thieving mother who cut me $500,000.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-holmes/this-is-the-lying-thieving-mother-who-cut-me-500-000/) [Larry Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-holmes/) > [“Having no applicable skills, in any possible area whatsoever, effectively makes me the master of redundancy. But that info is obsolete, like my insults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/having-no-applicable-skills-in-any-possible-area-whatsoever/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/but-his-soul-was-mad-being-alone-in-the-wilderness-it-had-looked/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Explore all 645 Joseph Conrad quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) ## More Different ways quotes > [“Picking locks was not a skill he had ever cultivated, but he persisted day after day, turning the tip of his talon into different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/picking-locks-was-not-a-skill-he-had-ever-cultivated-but-he-persisted/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Some shows just go away - and that's fine. They serve their purpose and their entertainment value, but there are shows that touch people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cudlitz/some-shows-just-go-away-and-that-s-fine-they-serve-their-purpose-and/) [Michael Cudlitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cudlitz/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [There are many different ways the public can respond to actors - they can see you on TV and feel they know you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/there-are-many-different-ways-the-public-can-respond-to-actors-they/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [“The first phase of modernism, which so far as the English language goes we associate with Pound and Yeats, Wyndham Lewis and Eliot and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/the-first-phase-of-modernism-which-so-far-as-the-english-language/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [It is great to see Bollywood celebrities contributing to so many different trends in so many different ways. I think this is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-dutta/it-is-great-to-see-bollywood-celebrities-contributing-to-so-many/) [Lara Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-dutta/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [Skating is a sport that I found a lot of interest in from a very, very young age. Ultimately, I think that being on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-chen/skating-is-a-sport-that-i-found-a-lot-of-interest-in-from-a-very-very/) [Nathan Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-chen/) > [I was going to say 'my friend Stuart', but I suppose he's not a friend any more. I seem to have lost a number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-coe/i-was-going-to-say-my-friend-stuart-but-i-suppose-he-s-not-a-friend/) [Jonathan Coe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-coe/) > [I'll reshoot a corridor 13 different ways, and you'll never recognise them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-scott/i-ll-reshoot-a-corridor-13-different-ways-and-you-ll-never-recognise/) [Ridley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-scott/) > [She waited for you in a thousand different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/she-waited-for-you-in-a-thousand-different-ways/) [Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/) > [“5 Tips for Mirroring Others 1. Body language. When they smile, you smile. When they lean back in their chair, you lean back in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/5-tips-for-mirroring-others-1-body-language-when-they-smile-you-smile/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [Movies have been doing so much of the same thing - in slightly different ways - for so long that few of the possibilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-kael/movies-have-been-doing-so-much-of-the-same-thing-in-slightly/) [Pauline Kael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-kael/) > [With acting, it's like you form chemistry with different people in different ways, so it's really added even more fun to work, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-blackburn/with-acting-it-s-like-you-form-chemistry-with-different-people-in/) [Tyler Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-blackburn/) [Browse all 2,175 Different ways quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-ways/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Thieving was not a sheer absurdity. It was a form of human industry, perverse indeed, but still an industry exercised in an industrious world; it was work undertaken for the same reason as the work in potteries, in coal mines, in fields, in tool-grinding shops. It was labour, whose practical difference from the other forms of labour consisted in the nature of its risk, which did not lie in ankylosis, or lead poisoning, or fire-damp, or gritty dust, but in what may be briefly defined in its own special phraseology as \"Seven years' hard\". Chief Inspector Heat was, of course, not insensible to the gravity of moral differences. But neither were the thieves he had been looking after. They submitted to the severe sanction of a morality familiar to Chief Inspector Heat with a certain resignation. They were his fellow citizens gone wrong because of imperfect education, Chief Inspector Heat believed; but allowing for that difference, he could understand the mind of a burglar, because, as a matter of fact, the mind and the instincts of a burglar are of the same kind as the mind and the instincts of a police officer. Both recognize the same conventions, and have a working knowledge of each other's methods and of the routine of their respective trades. They understand each other, which is advantageous to both, and establishes a sort of amenity in their relations. Products of the same machine, one classed as useful and the other as noxious, they take the machine for granted in different ways, but with a seriousness essentially the same. The mind of Chief Inspector Heat was inaccessible to ideas of revolt. But his thieves were not rebels. His bodily vigour, his cool, inflexible manner, his courage, and his fairness, had secured for him much respect and some adulation in the sphere of his early successes. He had felt himself revered and admired. 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