How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #1
Born of industrious parents for a life of toil, he had embraced indolence from an impulse as profound, as inexplicable and as imperious as the impulse which directs a mans preference for one particular woman in a given thousand. He was too lazy even for a mere demagogue, for a workman orator, for a leader of labour. It was too much trouble. He required a more perfect form of ease […] (2.1)
Conrad almost browbeats you when it comes to showing that Verloc is a really lazy guy. And you'd think that in a fair society, Verloc would be punished for his laziness. But instead, he actually makes a very good living at doing… nothing. He came from very hardworking parents, but there's this basic laziness in him that the narrator doesn't really know how to describe. Verloc's sense of entitlement is so strong he's actually willing to plant a bomb to protect his easy life. Here, you get a real sense of what a leech Verloc is, even though he doesn't tend to think of himself as a bad guy. It's just that when something tries to come between him and his idle life, he's like a mother wolf protecting a cub.
Quote #2
[Verloc] trod the pavement heavily with his shiny boots, and his general get-up was that of a well-to-do mechanic in business for himself. He might have been anything from a picture-frame maker to a locksmith; an employer of labour in a small way. But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft […]. (2.2)
Mr. Verloc looks like he's some sort of middle-class employer, but carries himself in a way that no honest, hard-working man would. He gives off a vibe that's only given off by people who make their money off of humanity's darkest desires. In this case, Verloc makes his money by deceiving people and selling them pornography. There's a cynicism to him that makes him different from other people in his social class, and this might actually be an indirect compliment paid to the middle class on Conrad's part. Then again, Conrad might also be suggesting that Verloc's cynicism has made him stronger than these other people, because their morals keep them from making even more money.
Quote #3
Mr Vladimir, First Secretary, had a drawing-room reputation as an agreeable and entertaining man. He was something of a favourite in society. His wit consisted in discovering droll connections between incongruous ideas. (2.27).
In this passage, Conrad calls out high society for being totally superficial. A dude like Mr. Vladimir is trained in the art of getting into people's good books, and there's a good chance that no one in London's high society even knows where he comes from. But hey, the guy know show to tell a joke, and this make him a favorite in the lavish "drawing-rooms" of the idle rich.