Heart of Darkness quotes

We live, as we dream—alone...

— Spoken by a character · I

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.

— Spoken by a character · I

‘The horror! The horror!’

— Spoken by a character · III

‘Mistah Kurtz—he dead.’

— Spoken by a character · III

The mind of man is capable of anything—because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future.

— Spoken by a character · II

I did not betray Mr. Kurtz—it was ordered I should never betray him—it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.

— Spoken by a character · III

They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force—nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.

— Spoken by a character · I

Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings.

— Spoken by a character · II

We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember because we were travelling in the night of first ages, of those ages that are gone, leaving hardly a sign—and no memories.

— Spoken by a character · II

It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core....

— Spoken by a character · III

You know I hate, detest, and can’t bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me.

— Spoken by a character · I

I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine.

— Spoken by a character · III

Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you—smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, ‘Come and find out.’

— Spoken by a character · I