What One Lives For--Joseph Conrad

January 28, 2022

 From Joseph Conrad


"What one lives for may be uncertain; how one lives is not. Man should live nobly though he does not see any practical reason for it, simply because in the mysterious, inexplicable mixture of beauty and ugliness, (and) virtue and baseness in which he finds himself, he must want to be on the side of the virtuous and the beautiful."


I offer one caveat to this inspiring quotation-- an important one. Personally, I have found there are "practical reasons" for trying to live nobly. Doing so earns the respect and trust, not of everyone but of many including those whose trust and friendship we most value. And,  if nothing else, doing so let's us sleep better at night. 

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