Whaling Quotes by Herman Melville

8 Whaling quotes by Herman Melville

All Whaling quotes Herman Melville’s page

Herman Melville’s reflections on whaling appear in eight concise quotes. Though brief, they echo the depth of his maritime storytelling.

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“Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then? Methinks…

Herman Melville

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“There you stand, lost in the infinite series of the sea, with nothing ruffled but the waves. The tranced ship indolently rolls;…

Herman Melville

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“Aye, aye, it must be so. I've oversailed him. How, got the start? Aye, he's chasing ME now; not I, HIM--that's bad”

Herman Melville

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“It needs scarcely to be told, with what feelings, on the eve of a Nantucket voyage, I regarded those marble tablets, and…

Herman Melville

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“Oh, Starbuck! it is a mild, mild wind, and a mild looking sky. On such a day - very much such a…

Herman Melville

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“Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then? Methinks…

Herman Melville

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“go on a whaling voyage; this”

Herman Melville

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“For the most part, in this tropic whaling life, a sublime uneventfulness invests you; you hear no news; read no gazettes; extras…

Herman Melville

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“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”

Herman Melville

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“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

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“(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

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“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

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“the only real owner of anything is its commander;”

Herman Melville

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“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

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“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

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“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

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Let America first praise mediocrity even, in her children, before she praises... the best excellence in the children of any other land.

Herman Melville

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Only the man who says no is free

Herman Melville

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Beneath those stars is a universe of gliding monsters.

Herman Melville

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“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

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I never fancied broiling fowls; - though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more…

Herman Melville