A good laugh is a mighty good thing, a rather too scarce a good thing. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
...The silent reminiscence of hardships departed, is sweeter than the presence of delight. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
Both the ancestry and posterity of Grief go further than the ancestry and posterity of Joy. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“oaths and anchors equally will drag: naught else abides on fickle earth but unkept promises of joy.” — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
That mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him, that mortal man cannot be true--not true, or undeveloped. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
Until we understand that our grief outweighs a thousand joys, we will never understand what Christianity is all about. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
Delight,--top-gallant delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or lord, but the Lord his God, and is only a patriot to… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“Delight is to him -- a far, far upward, and inward delight -- who against the proud gods and commodores of this… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“For the scene of suffering is a scene of joy when the suffering is past; and the silent reminiscence of hardships departed… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys, The champions and enthusiasts of the state: Turbid ardors and vain joys Not… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
But even so, amid the tornadoed Atlantic of my being, do I myself still for ever centrally disport in mute calm; and… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
What we take to be our strongest tower of delight, only stands at the caprice of the minutest event the falling of… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
We may have civilized bodies and yet barbarous souls. We are blind to the real sights of this world; deaf to its… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
The sun hides not the ocean, which is the dark side of this earth, and which is two thirds of this earth.… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
When the inhabitants of some sequestered island first descry the "big canoe" of the European rolling through the blue waters towards their… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.” — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“But were the coming narrative to reveal in any instance, the complete abasement of poor Starbuck's fortitude, scarce might I have the heart to… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“(On Ralph Waldo Emerson)I love all men who dive. Any fish can swim near the surface, but it takes a great whale to go… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“So seemed it to me, as I stood at her helm, and for long hours silently guided the way of this fire-ship on the… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“Now, as I before hinted, I have no objection to any person's religion, be it what it may, so long as that person does… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
Let America first praise mediocrity even, in her children, before she praises... the best excellence in the children of any other land. — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
“Yet this is life. For hardly have we mortals by long toilings extracted from this world's vast bulk its small but valuable sperm; and… — Herman Melville Copy Share Image
