QuoteProject
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
Joseph Conrad
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that humans are inherently capable of evil without any external influence.

Joseph Conrad's quote reflects a critical perspective on human nature, asserting that individuals possess an intrinsic capacity for wickedness independent of supernatural forces. It implies that the source of evil lies within humanity itself, challenging the notion that external supernatural influences are responsible for moral corruption. This examination of human potential for wrongdoing invites a deeper contemplation of moral agency and ethical behavior.

Themes

EvilHumansWickednessNatureMorality

In practice

Example use cases

In a philosophical debate about morality, this quote could be used to argue that evil actions stem from within individuals rather than external forces.

More from Joseph Conrad

It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun. It is as if loneliness were a hard and absolute condition of existence; the envelope of flesh and blood on which our eyes are fixed melts before the outstretched hand, and there remains only the capricious, unconsolable and elusive spirit that no eye can follow, no hand can grasp.
Joseph ConradRead
I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude - and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.
Joseph ConradRead
Hang ideas! They are tramps, vagabonds, knocking at the back-door of your mind, each taking a little of your substance, each carrying away some crumb of that belief in a few simple notions you must cling to if you want to live decently and would like to die easy!
Joseph ConradRead
Joy and sorrow in this world pass into each other, mingling their forms and their murmurs in the twilight of life as mysterious as an overshadowed ocean, while the dazzling brightness of supreme hopes lies far off, fascinating and still, on the distant edge of the horizon
Joseph ConradRead
The artist appeals to that part of our being...which is a gift and not an acquisition - and, therefore, more permanently enduring.
Joseph ConradRead
History repeats itself, but the special call of an art which has passed away is never reproduced. It is as utterly gone out of the world as the song of a destroyed wild bird.
Joseph ConradRead

Similar quotes

Until the legacy of remembered and reenacted trauma is taken seriously, black America cannot heal.
Bell HooksRead
Against the background of general freakishness the case of my particular freakishness was lost.
Witold GombrowiczRead
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
The question of souls is oldβ€”we demand our bodies, now. We are tired of promises, god is deaf, and his church is our worst enemy.
Voltairine De CleyreRead
Earth has one angel less and heaven one more, since yesterday.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
The sacred is in the ordinary...it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's own backyard...travel may be a flight from confronting the scared--this lesson can be easily lost. To be looking elsewhere for miracles is to me a sure sign of ignorance that everything is miraculous.
Abraham MaslowRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.