“The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.”

—  Joseph Conrad, book The Mirror of the Sea

Source: The Mirror of the Sea (1906), Ch. 35
Context: For all that has been said of the love that certain natures (on shore) have professed to feel for it, for all the celebrations it had been the object of in prose and song, the sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Jan. 29, 2026. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness." by Joseph Conrad?
Joseph Conrad photo
Joseph Conrad127
Polish-British writer 1857–1924

Related quotes

John Keats photo

“My mind has been the most discontented and restless one that ever was put into a body too small for it.”

John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet

Sri Chinmoy photo

“A human being has many divine qualities. But there has never been another unparalleled divine quality like man's self-sacrifice, nor can there ever be.”

Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian writer and guru

Songs of the Soul (1971)

Oscar Wilde photo

“It is because Humanity has never known where it was going that it has been able to find its way.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

Source: The Critic as Artist

“It has never been man’s gift to make wildernesses. But he can make deserts, and has.”

Wallace Stegner (1909–1993) American historian, writer, and environmentalist

"The War Between the Rough Riders and the Bird Watchers" (1959 address; reprinted in Wildlands and Our Civilization, David Brower, editor, 1964, and in Voices for the Wilderness, William Schwarz, editor, 1970, page 76)

Milan Kundera photo

“To be mortal is the most basic human experience, and yet man has never been able to accept it, grasp it, and behave accordingly. Man doesn't know how to be mortal. And when he dies, he doesn't even know how to be dead.”

Milan Kundera book Immortality

Source: Immortality

Machado de Assis photo

“Imagination has been the companion of my whole existence – lively, swift, restless, at times timid and balky, most often ready to devour plain upon plain in its course.”

Machado de Assis book Dom Casmurro

A imaginação foi a companheira de toda a minha existência, viva, rápida, inquieta, alguma vez tímida e amiga de empacar, as mais delas capaz de engolir campanhas e campanhas, correndo.
Source: Dom Casmurro (1899), Ch. 40, p. 98.

Herrick Johnson photo

“The most destructive criticism has not been able to dethrone Christ as the incarnation of perfect holiness. The waves of a tossing and restless sea of unbelief break at His feet, and He stands still the supreme model, the inspiration of great souls, the rest of the weary, the fragrance of all Christendom, the one divine flower in the garden of God.”

Herrick Johnson (1832–1913) American clergyman

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 57.

“Never was there a man of deep piety, who has not been brought into extremities — who has not been put into fire — who has been taught to say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."”

Richard Cecil (clergyman) (1748–1810) British Evangelical Anglican priest and social reformer

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 585.

Michel De Montaigne photo

“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Attributed

Sinclair Lewis photo

“Is it possible that nobody has ever known—that there never has been a completely civilized man, and won't be for another thousand years?”

Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright

The God-Seeker (1949)
Context: He fretted that he did not know anything. He sighed, 'I have sought the Kingdom of God a little, the Squire has sought it terribly, but we haven't even a map, and after what I saw this afternoon, I know the Sioux are as barbarous as we are. Is it possible that nobody has ever known—that there never has been a completely civilized man, and won't be for another thousand years? ~ Ch. 33

Related topics