What does this mean You fellows know there are those voyages that seem ordered for the illustration of life that might stand for a symbol of existence?

Answer 1

This is a line from the first page of the short story "Youth" by Joseph Conrad. It continues, "You fight, work, sweat, nearly kill yourself, sometimes do kill yourself, trying to accomplish something--and you can't. Not from any fault of yours. You simply can do nothing, neither great nor little--not a thing in the world--not even marry an old maid; or get a wretched 600-ton cargo of coal to its point of destination". Hope your own existence flows better, my dear questioner. Smooth sailing, my fellow shipmate on planet Earth!