Of the stratagems of life the most cruel is the consolation of love — the most subtle, too; for the desire is the bed of dreams. Victory: An Island Tale - Page 247 by Joseph Conrad - 1915 - 415 pages Full view - About this book
...analysing ideas and actions, the laughter and the frowns of men, and the grimaces of their agony. ... And Heyst, the son, read: Of the stratagems of life...father's voice, speaking and ceasing to speak again. He abandoned himself to the half-belief that something of his father dwelt yet on earth - a ghostly...