---
title: "1 Smell Sea Quotes By Ross MacDonald"
description: "1 Smell Sea quotes by Ross MacDonald. Plus more from Ross MacDonald and more Smell Sea sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/ross-macdonald-10904_beam_the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-an_759080.jpg"
---

> [The smell of the sea, of kelp and fish and bitter moving water, rose stronger in my nostrils. It flooded my consciousness like an ancestral memory. The swells rose sluggishly and fell away, casting up dismal gleams between the boards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-and-bitter-moving-water-rose/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/ross-macdonald-10904_beam_the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-an_759080.jpg)

## More by Ross MacDonald

> [Money costs too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/money-costs-too-much/)

[Ross MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“The sea was surging among the pilings like the blithe mindless forces of dissolution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/the-sea-was-surging-among-the-pilings-like-the-blithe-mindless-forces/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [I knew how it was with drunks. They ran out of generosity, even for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/i-knew-how-it-was-with-drunks-they-ran-out-of-generosity-even-for/)

[Ross MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“She didn't look like any motel manager I had ever seen. More likely an actress who hadn't quite made the grade down south, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/she-didn-t-look-like-any-motel-manager-i-had-ever-seen-more-likely-an/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“In wine was truth, perhaps, but in whisky, the way Hoffman sluiced it down, was an army of imaginary rats climbing your legs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/in-wine-was-truth-perhaps-but-in-whisky-the-way-hoffman-sluiced-it/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“...a thin woman about fifty with a face like a silver hatchet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/a-thin-woman-about-fifty-with-a-face-like-a-silver-hatchet/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“A cockroach stepped out from behind the ketchup, gave me a quick impassive once-over, decided that I was of the Brahmin faith, and walked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/a-cockroach-stepped-out-from-behind-the-ketchup-gave-me-a-quick/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“No more guns for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/no-more-guns-for-you/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [I have a secret passion for mercy. . . but justice is what keeps happening to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/i-have-a-secret-passion-for-mercy-but-justice-is-what-keeps-happening/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [“I found myself wishing that we could live like the birds and move through nature without hurting it ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/i-found-myself-wishing-that-we-could-live-like-the-birds-and-move/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [An ugly woman with a gun is a terrible thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/an-ugly-woman-with-a-gun-is-a-terrible-thing/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [I like a little danger. Tame danger, controlled by me. It gives me a sense of power, I guess, to take my life in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/i-like-a-little-danger-tame-danger-controlled-by-me-it-gives-me-a/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [I had reached the point when I could not see anything clearly ahead, I needed help, and I got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/i-had-reached-the-point-when-i-could-not-see-anything-clearly-ahead-i/)

[Ross MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [How can a man help breaking the law when he don't have money to live on?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/how-can-a-man-help-breaking-the-law-when-he-don-t-have-money-to-live/)

[Ross MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

> [The smell of the sea, of kelp and fish and bitter moving water, rose stronger in my nostrils. It flooded my consciousness like an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-and-bitter-moving-water-rose/)

[Ross Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-macdonald/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Smell Sea Quotes By Ross MacDonald",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The smell of the sea, of kelp and fish and bitter moving water, rose stronger in my nostrils. It flooded my consciousness like an ancestral memory. The swells rose sluggishly and fell away, casting up dismal gleams between the boards of the pier. And the whole pier rose and fell in stiff and creaking mimicry, dancing its long slow dance of dissolution. I reached the end and saw no one, heard nothing but my footsteps and the creak of the beams, the slap of waves on the pilings. It was a fifteen-foot drop to the dim water. The nearest land ahead of me was Hawaii.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ross MacDonald"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-macdonald/the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-and-bitter-moving-water-rose/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/ross-macdonald-10904_beam_the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-an_759080.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/ross-macdonald-10904_beam_the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-an_759080.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/ross-macdonald-10904_beam_the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-an_759080.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The smell of the sea, of kelp and fish and bitter moving water, rose stronger in my nostrils. It flooded my…” — Ross Macdonald",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/",
            "name": "Smell Sea Quotes by Ross MacDonald",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/ross-macdonald-10904_beam_the-smell-of-the-sea-of-kelp-and-fish-an_759080.jpg"
            },
            "description": "1 Smell Sea quotes by Ross MacDonald. Plus more from Ross MacDonald and more Smell Sea sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Smell Sea",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Ross MacDonald",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-sea/ross-macdonald/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```