--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did not wish to take a cabin passage…" description: "\"I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e4/henry-david-thoreau-20_deck_i-did-not-wish-to-take-a-cabin-passage-b_1752105.jpg" --- # I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go… ![“I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e4/henry-david-thoreau-20_deck_i-did-not-wish-to-take-a-cabin-passage-b_1752105.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e4/henry-david-thoreau-20_deck_i-did-not-wish-to-take-a-cabin-passage-b_1752105.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e4/henry-david-thoreau-20_deck_i-did-not-wish-to-take-a-cabin-passage-b_1752105.jpg) > “I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.” [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeking direct, natural experiences offers clearer insight than indirect or confined perspectives. **In simple terms:** Direct nature gives clearer insight; indirect view limits understanding. Key Takeaway Engage directly with nature for deeper perception. Themes nature solitude perspective exploration freedom Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - hiking - camping - star gazing - mountain climbing Key Concepts transcendentalism environmental philosophy self-reliance Questions to Reflect On - How can you find direct experience locally? - What does “the deck of the world” mean to you? A Different Perspective Physical limits may restrict access; not everyone can go to sea. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Moonlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moonlight/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-surface-of-the-earth-is-soft-and-impressible-by-the-feet-of-men/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The poet who walks by moonlight is conscious of a tide in his thought which is to be referred to lunar influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-poet-who-walks-by-moonlight-is-conscious-of-a-tide-in-his-thought/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The stars are the jewels of the night, and perchance surpass anything which day has to show. A companion with whom I was sailing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-stars-are-the-jewels-of-the-night-and-perchance-surpass-anything-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I love to get on tracks with brothers like Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, the GZA. The whole crew is golden, man. When you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raekwon/i-love-to-get-on-tracks-with-brothers-like-inspectah-deck-masta-killa/) [Raekwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raekwon/) > [because wherever I sat—on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok—I would be sitting under the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/because-wherever-i-sat-on-the-deck-of-a-ship-or-at-a-street-caf-in/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [There's no place where one can breathe as freely as on the deck of a ship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsa-triolet/there-s-no-place-where-one-can-breathe-as-freely-as-on-the-deck-of-a/) [Elsa Triolet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsa-triolet/) > [This is a typical liberal trick, by the way: Stack the deck so the whole thing fails leaving only one option, the government to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/this-is-a-typical-liberal-trick-by-the-way-stack-the-deck-so-the/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [20-some years ago, I'd have a big old radio with a tape deck, and I'd hit record and try to get something down on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-chapin-carpenter/20-some-years-ago-i-d-have-a-big-old-radio-with-a-tape-deck-and-i-d/) [Mary Chapin Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-chapin-carpenter/) > [The deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top. And there's something wrong with that. There's something wrong when CEOs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/the-deck-is-still-stacked-in-favor-of-those-already-at-the-top-and/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [When people think about the ark, they're always thinking about all the thousands of years of religious iconography of a ship with a bow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-aronofsky/when-people-think-about-the-ark-they-re-always-thinking-about-all-the/) [Darren Aronofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-aronofsky/) > [Scobe's Eighth Law: The moron will enter the single deck game when the count is sky high and the dealer is deciding whether or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-scoblete/scobe-s-eighth-law-the-moron-will-enter-the-single-deck-game-when-the/) [Frank Scoblete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-scoblete/) > [We're providing planning to a huge audience who's never had access to financial planners before. This was always my plan for LearnVest. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexa-von-tobel/we-re-providing-planning-to-a-huge-audience-who-s-never-had-access-to/) [Alexa Von Tobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexa-von-tobel/) > [Well, we try to - we definitely try to have a balance. And I think things have gotten a lot better at Pixar. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-docter/well-we-try-to-we-definitely-try-to-have-a-balance-and-i-think-things/) [Pete Docter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-docter/) > [ This is the industry that wants \[music\], the rap industry. You have to be on deck all the time, but you do not have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/young-thug/this-is-the-industry-that-wants-music-the-rap-industry-you-have-to-be/) [Young Thug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/young-thug/) > [None of us have any control over the deck or the hand we've been dealt. What we do have is total responibility as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-alten/none-of-us-have-any-control-over-the-deck-or-the-hand-we-ve-been/) [Steve Alten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-alten/) ## More by Henry David Thoreau > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Men say they know many things; But lo! they have taken wings, — The arts and sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-say-they-know-many-things-but-lo-they-have-taken-wings-the-arts/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-not-afraid-of-praise-for-i-have-practiced-it-on-myself/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-lumberers-rarely-trouble-themselves-to-put-out-their-fires-such/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-he-has-obtained-those-things-which-are-necessary-to-life-there/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More Deck quotes > [None of us have any control over the deck or the hand we've been dealt. What we do have is total responibility as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-alten/none-of-us-have-any-control-over-the-deck-or-the-hand-we-ve-been/) [Steve Alten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-alten/) > [ This is the industry that wants \[music\], the rap industry. You have to be on deck all the time, but you do not have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/young-thug/this-is-the-industry-that-wants-music-the-rap-industry-you-have-to-be/) [Young Thug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/young-thug/) > [Well, we try to - we definitely try to have a balance. And I think things have gotten a lot better at Pixar. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-docter/well-we-try-to-we-definitely-try-to-have-a-balance-and-i-think-things/) [Pete Docter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-docter/) > [We're providing planning to a huge audience who's never had access to financial planners before. This was always my plan for LearnVest. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexa-von-tobel/we-re-providing-planning-to-a-huge-audience-who-s-never-had-access-to/) [Alexa Von Tobel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexa-von-tobel/) > [Scobe's Eighth Law: The moron will enter the single deck game when the count is sky high and the dealer is deciding whether or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-scoblete/scobe-s-eighth-law-the-moron-will-enter-the-single-deck-game-when-the/) [Frank Scoblete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-scoblete/) > [When people think about the ark, they're always thinking about all the thousands of years of religious iconography of a ship with a bow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-aronofsky/when-people-think-about-the-ark-they-re-always-thinking-about-all-the/) [Darren Aronofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-aronofsky/) > [The deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top. And there's something wrong with that. There's something wrong when CEOs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/the-deck-is-still-stacked-in-favor-of-those-already-at-the-top-and/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [20-some years ago, I'd have a big old radio with a tape deck, and I'd hit record and try to get something down on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-chapin-carpenter/20-some-years-ago-i-d-have-a-big-old-radio-with-a-tape-deck-and-i-d/) [Mary Chapin Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-chapin-carpenter/) > [This is a typical liberal trick, by the way: Stack the deck so the whole thing fails leaving only one option, the government to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/this-is-a-typical-liberal-trick-by-the-way-stack-the-deck-so-the/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [There's no place where one can breathe as freely as on the deck of a ship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsa-triolet/there-s-no-place-where-one-can-breathe-as-freely-as-on-the-deck-of-a/) [Elsa Triolet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsa-triolet/) > [because wherever I sat—on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok—I would be sitting under the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/because-wherever-i-sat-on-the-deck-of-a-ship-or-at-a-street-caf-in/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love to get on tracks with brothers like Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, the GZA. The whole crew is golden, man. When you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raekwon/i-love-to-get-on-tracks-with-brothers-like-inspectah-deck-masta-killa/) [Raekwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raekwon/) > [Usually I try to be there by six. Everything has been taken off the walls so that there's nothing to arrest my sight. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/usually-i-try-to-be-there-by-six-everything-has-been-taken-off-the/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Curran and I mixed about as well as glycerin and nitric acid: put us together, shake a bit, and hit the deck as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/curran-and-i-mixed-about-as-well-as-glycerin-and-nitric-acid-put-us/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [We must do business in great waters; we must be really on the deck in a storm, if we would see the works of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-must-do-business-in-great-waters-we-must-be-really-on-the-deck-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 294 Deck quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. 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