He was no man of action; he was not even an orator of
torrential eloquence, sweeping the masses along in the rushing noise and foam
of a great enthusiasm. With a more subtle intention, he took the part of an
insolent and venomous evoker of sinister impulses which lurk in the blind envy
and misery of poverty, in all the hopeful and noble illusions of righteous
anger, pity, and revolt… The way of even the most justifiable revolutions is
prepared by personal impulses disguised into creeds.
Joseph Conrad, The
Secret Agent
