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Egoism, which is the moving force of the world, and altruism, which…

Quote byJoseph Conrad · 1857–1924

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to the editor of The New York Times Saturday Book Review (August 1901), as quoted in Joseph Conrad: A Life (2007) by Zdzisław Najder, translated by Halina Najder, p. 315.

English (original)

Egoism, which is the moving force of the world, and altruism, which is its morality, these two contradictory instincts, of which one is so plain and the other so mysterious, cannot serve us unless in the incomprehensible alliance of their irreconcilable antagonism.

— Joseph Conrad

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