--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one would have crossed the ocean if he…" description: "\"No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.\" — Charles Kettering" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png" --- # No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have… ![“No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.” quote by Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png) > “No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.” [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People rarely abandon a risky venture once they’re committed, even if conditions worsen. **In simple terms:** Commitment fuels persistence. Key Takeaway Stay aware of risks. Themes risk commitment perseverance Mood cautious determined Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - business ventures - long‑term projects - personal goals Key Concepts behavioral economics decision theory Questions to Reflect On - When should you change course? - What signals indicate a bad situation? A Different Perspective Stubbornness may cause harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [River](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river/) ## Related quotes > [The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-wattleton/the-only-safe-ship-in-a-storm-is-leadership/) [Faye Wattleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-wattleton/) > [They say that the captain stays fast with the ship through still and storm but this ain't the Dakota, and the water is cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brand-new/they-say-that-the-captain-stays-fast-with-the-ship-through-still-and/) Brand New > [You wouldn't abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn't control the winds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/you-wouldn-t-abandon-ship-in-a-storm-just-because-you-couldn-t/) [Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/) > [I know only one person who ever crossed the ocean without feeling it, either spiritually or physically… he went from Oklahoma to France and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mfk-fisher/i-know-only-one-person-who-ever-crossed-the-ocean-without-feeling-it/) MFK Fisher > [I was moving among two groups... who had almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral, and psychological climate had so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/i-was-moving-among-two-groups-who-had-almost-ceased-to-communicate-at/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [“But for a moment I stay there, suspended above the green swell of the land as though thrown up onto the crest of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kermit-roosevelt-iii/but-for-a-moment-i-stay-there-suspended-above-the-green-swell-of-the/) [Kermit Roosevelt III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kermit-roosevelt-iii/) > [“I’ve crossed galaxies while I slept, crossed an ocean and back again, but none of that matters. I know where my home is—right here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-dixon/i-ve-crossed-galaxies-while-i-slept-crossed-an-ocean-and-back-again/) [Ruby Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-dixon/) > [“I have crossed an ocean I have lost my tongue from the root of the old one a new one has sprung”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-nichols/i-have-crossed-an-ocean-i-have-lost-my-tongue-from-the-root-of-the/) Grace Nichols > [Those who want to row on the ocean of human knowledge do not get far, and the storm drives those out of their course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/those-who-want-to-row-on-the-ocean-of-human-knowledge-do-not-get-far/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [Happy the man who from the sea escapes the storm and finds harbor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/happy-the-man-who-from-the-sea-escapes-the-storm-and-finds-harbor/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [We meet again, at the turn of the tide. A great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-meet-again-at-the-turn-of-the-tide-a-great-storm-is-coming-but-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He knows enough, the mariner, who knows Where lurk the shelves, and where the whirlpools boil, What signs portend the storm: to subtler minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/he-knows-enough-the-mariner-who-knows-where-lurk-the-shelves-and/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Unfathomable Sea! whose waves are years, Ocean of Time, whose waters of deep woe Are brackish with the salt of human tears! Thou shoreless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/unfathomable-sea-whose-waves-are-years-ocean-of-time-whose-waters-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Australia is the only island continent on the planet, which means that changes caused by planet-warming pollution - warmer seas, which can drive stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goodell/australia-is-the-only-island-continent-on-the-planet-which-means-that/) [Jeff Goodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goodell/) > [Like the ocean that remains calm in its depths even when waves rage over its surface, and like the sun that continues shining on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/like-the-ocean-that-remains-calm-in-its-depths-even-when-waves-rage/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) ## More by Charles Kettering > [Research is an organized method of trying to find out what you are going to do after you cannot do what you are doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/research-is-an-organized-method-of-trying-to-find-out-what-you-are/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [The sure ways to create new ventures of discovery are to keep an open mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/the-sure-ways-to-create-new-ventures-of-discovery-are-to-keep-an-open/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [If a fellow wants to be nobody in the business world, let him neglect sending the mailman to somebody on his behalf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/if-a-fellow-wants-to-be-nobody-in-the-business-world-let-him-neglect/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/every-time-you-tear-a-leaf-off-a-calendar-you-present-a-new-place-for/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Great steps in human progress are made by things that don't work the way philosophy thought they should. If things always worked the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/great-steps-in-human-progress-are-made-by-things-that-don-t-work-the/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Education is man's going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/education-is-man-s-going-forward-from-cocksure-ignorance-to/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [you must take the problem as it is, and let it be what it wants to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/you-must-take-the-problem-as-it-is-and-let-it-be-what-it-wants-to-be/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [It is man's destiny to ponder on the riddle of existence and, as a byproduct of his wonderment, to create a new life on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/it-is-man-s-destiny-to-ponder-on-the-riddle-of-existence-and-as-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [We must look forward to the future as that is where most of us will be spending the rest of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/we-must-look-forward-to-the-future-as-that-is-where-most-of-us-will/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/there-is-a-great-difference-between-knowing-and-understanding-you-can/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [If I want to stop a research program I can always do it by getting a few experts to sit in on the subject,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/if-i-want-to-stop-a-research-program-i-can-always-do-it-by-getting-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [There will always be a frontier where there is an open mind and a willing hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/there-will-always-be-a-frontier-where-there-is-an-open-mind-and-a/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Obsolescence is a factor which says that the new thing I bring you is worth more than the unused value of the old thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/obsolescence-is-a-factor-which-says-that-the-new-thing-i-bring-you-is/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should, some man believed that it could, and some man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/nothing-ever-built-arose-to-touch-the-skies-unless-some-man-dreamed/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) > [What I believe is that, by proper effort, we make the future almost anything we want to make it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/what-i-believe-is-that-by-proper-effort-we-make-the-future-almost/) [Charles Kettering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) [Explore all 102 Charles Kettering quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/) ## More Ocean quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Our world is drowning in a sea of self-centeredness. You can make yourself quite unique right away by leaving this ocean of selfishness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bytheway/our-world-is-drowning-in-a-sea-of-self-centeredness-you-can-make/) [John Bytheway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bytheway/) > [The improved American highway system isolated the American-in-transit. On his speedway he had no contact with the towns which he by-passed. If he stopped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-boorstin/the-improved-american-highway-system-isolated-the-american-in-transit/) [Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-boorstin/) > [“It’s a big ocean crossed by busy ships. I went slowly, observing much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/it-s-a-big-ocean-crossed-by-busy-ships-i-went-slowly-observing-much/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/your-head-s-like-mine-like-all-our-heads-big-enough-to-contain-every/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [With no other choices open to us, we'd turned our gaze seaward. The oceans were our America: they reached farther than any prairie, untamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carsten-jensen/with-no-other-choices-open-to-us-we-d-turned-our-gaze-seaward-the/) [Carsten Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carsten-jensen/) > [Life is like the ocean. It can be calm and still or rough and rigid but in the end, it is always beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-like-the-ocean-it-can-be-calm-and-still-or-rough-and-rigid/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-must-not-lose-faith-in-humanity-humanity-is-like-an-ocean-if-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [“I’ve always seen this in you, ever since you were a little girl — this hunger to love other people into their highest selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-elisabeth/i-ve-always-seen-this-in-you-ever-since-you-were-a-little-girl-this/) [Jennifer Elisabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-elisabeth/) > [“Mungu akikubariki kipaji chako watu watasema ni laana. Maisha yako ni sawa na mto. Unakoelekea ni baharini. Lakini sasa umefika kwenye mlango wa bahari.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enock-maregesi/mungu-akikubariki-kipaji-chako-watu-watasema-ni-laana-maisha-yako-ni/) [Enock Maregesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enock-maregesi/) [Browse all 4,263 Ocean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Kettering" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-he-could-have-gotten-off-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ocean" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-he-could-have-gotten-off-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/charles-kettering-5294_ocean_no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-h_2313585.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.” — Charles Kettering", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Charles Kettering", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kettering/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No one would have crossed the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-he-could-have-gotten-off-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kettering/no-one-would-have-crossed-the-ocean-if-he-could-have-gotten-off-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```