“I had given up worrying myself about the rivets. One’s capacity for that kind of folly is more limited than you would suppose. I said Hang!—and let things slide. I had plenty of time for meditation, and now and then I would give some thought to Kurtz. I wasn’t very interested in him. No. Still, I was curious to see whether this man, who had come out equipped with moral ideas of some sort, would climb to the top after all and how he would set about his work when there.” “I stopped waiting for the rivets. There’s only so much of such pointless hope you can take. I said the hell with it and let it go. I had plenty of time to think and now and then would think about Kurtz. I wasn’t very interested in him. No. But I was curious to see whether this man who came out here with such a sense of purpose would rise to the top after all and what he would do once he got there.”