“ What does the starving, ignorant people want with a Ministry of Finances? I kissed my old folks on both cheeks, and went away from them to live in cellars, with the proletariat. I tried to make myself useful to the utterly hopeless. ”
Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes (1911). copy citation
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
|---|---|
| Source | Under Western Eyes |
| Topic | kissing living |
| Date | 1911 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2480/2480-h/2480-h.htm |
Context
“There was not the slightest prospect of anything of the kind. But was it not sin enough to live on a Government salary while half Russia was dying of hunger? The Ministry of Finances! What a grotesque horror it is! What does the starving, ignorant people want with a Ministry of Finances? I kissed my old folks on both cheeks, and went away from them to live in cellars, with the proletariat. I tried to make myself useful to the utterly hopeless. I suppose you understand what I mean? I mean the people who have nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to in this life. Do you understand how frightful that is—nothing to look forward to! Sometimes I think that it is only in Russia that there are such people and such a depth of misery can be reached.”
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