Joseph Conrad Lord Jim

…He made many voyages. He knew the magical monotony of existence between sky and water: he had to endure the criticism of men, the demands of the sea, and the prosaic severity of daily duty that provides bread – whose only true reward, however, lies in loving one’s work completely. That reward was denied to him. Yet he could not turn back, for there is nothing more alluring, more deceptive, and more captivating than life at sea…