“ Being a dispassionate organism, it can never be perfectly informed. ”
Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (1907). copy citation
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
|---|---|
| Source | The Secret Agent |
| Topic | organism |
| Date | 1907 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/974/974-h/974-h.htm |
Context
“By a benevolent provision of Nature no man is a hero to his valet, or else the heroes would have to brush their own clothes. Likewise no department appears perfectly wise to the intimacy of its workers. A department does not know so much as some of its servants. Being a dispassionate organism, it can never be perfectly informed. It would not be good for its efficiency to know too much. Chief Inspector Heat got out of the train in a state of thoughtfulness entirely untainted with disloyalty, but not quite free of that jealous mistrust which so often springs on the ground of perfect devotion, whether to women or to institutions.”
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