Joseph Conrad Quotes

If I can stay constantly busy, I'll be happy.

No thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable.

I like to feel occupied.

The thing is, I really like working. If I sit around too much, I get really bad anxiety.

Mostly, I avoid worrying since the time spent doing it could be spent more constructively.

You can always find a distraction if you're looking for one.

'Crazy-busy' is a great armor, it's a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we're feeling and what we really need can't catch up with us.

I push every day against forces that say you have to go faster, be more effective, be more productive, you have to constantly outdo yourself, you have to constantly outdo your neighbor - all of the stuff that creates an incredibly productive society, but also a very neurotic one.

The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation.

Never confuse motion with action.

I've got so much to do, I don't have time to sit down and be sad.

If I don't think about it, it won't drive me crazy.

If I'm at home on my own and the writing isn't going well, I clean my house. And there have been times in the past few years when my house has looked really clean.

One reason most people never stop thinking is that mental frenzy keeps us from having to see the upsetting aspects of our lives. If I'm constantly brooding about my children or career, I won't notice that I'm lonely. If I grapple continuously with logistical problems, I can avoid contemplating little issues like, say, my own mortality.

I don't go to a psychiatrist. I don't go to a gym. I run away from my accountant, I run away from my dentist. They are all supposed to help you, but I like to stay in bed, where I have a chance to reflect, like Rossellini.

As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.

By forgetting the past and by throwing myself into other interests, I forget to worry.

Underneath our nice, friendly facades there is great unease. If I were to scratch below the surface of anyone I would find fear, pain, and anxiety running amok. We all have ways to cover them up. We overeat, over-drink, overwork; we watch too much television.

I avoid looking in the mirror.

I'd rather be busy than not.

Work is a great blotter up. It stops you thinking, which is useful. No, it stops you feeling.

I stay busy, and it feels good.

Keeping busy keeps me sane.

I hate resting. I feel restless. My preference is to be working.

I don't think you can work properly if you have anxiety about something; it stops you doing the work you're paid to do.