The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Vol. 4

(137) Yet a man who puts forth the secret of his imagination to the world accomplishes as it were a religious rite. [08. Lucas]

(408-09) I was nineteen before I learned English. My first English reading was the Standard newspaper, and my first acquaintance by the ear with it was in the speech of fishermen, shipwrights and sailors of the East Coast. But in 1880 I had mastered the language sufficiently to pass the first examination for officer in the Merchant Service, including viva-voce of more than two hours. But "mastered" is not the right word; I should have said "acquired." I've never opened an English grammar in my life. My pronunciation is rather defective. (L6 409) de Smet 110123