Log24

“The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity,
the whole meaning of which lies within the shell
of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical
(if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted),
and to him the meaning of an episode was
not inside like a kernel but outside,
enveloping the tale which brought it out only
as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of
one of these misty halos that sometimes
are made visible by the spectral illumination of
moonshine.”

— Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness

“By groping toward the light we are made to realize
how deep the darkness is around us.”

— Arthur Koestler, The Call Girls: A Tragi-Comedy,
Random House, 1973, page 118