Inevitableness is the only certitude; it is the very essence of life – as it is of dreams. A picture of life is saved from failure by the merciless vividness of detail. Like a dream it must be startling, undeniable, absurd and appalling. Like a dream it may be ludicrous or tragic and like a dream pitiless and inevitable; a thing monstrous or sweet from which you cannot escape. Our captivity within the incomprehensible logic of accident is the only logic of the universe…to produce a work of art must either know or feel that truth – even without knowing it. It must be the basis of every artistic endeavour.
Joseph Conrad, Letters
