"The stillness of the calm is awful. His……" — Herman Melville
"The stillness of the calm is awful. His voice begins to grow strange and portentous. He feels it in him like something swallowed too big for the esophagus. It keeps up a sort of involuntary interior humming in him, like a live beetle. His cranium is a dome full of reverberations. The hollows of his very bones are as whispering galleries. He is afraid to speak loud, lest he be stunned; like the man in the bass drum."
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Herman Melville
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285 Quotes by Herman Melville
Herman Melville has 285 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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For whatever is truly wondrous and fearful in man, never yet was put into words or books.
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Let America first praise mediocrity even, in her children, before she praises... the best excellence in the children of any…
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To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my…
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They talk of the dignity of work. The dignity is in leisure.
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Dream tonight of peacock tails, Diamond fields and spouter whales. Ills are many, blessing few, But dreams tonight will shelter…
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No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.
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All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys.
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See with what entire freedom the whaleman takes his handful of lamps-often but old bottles and vials, though. ... He…
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You cannot spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world.... We are not a…
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He says NO! In thunder; but the Devil himself cannot make him say yes.
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Why, ever since Adam, who has got to the meaning of this great allegory - the world? Then we pygmies…
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Prayer draws us near to our own souls.
See all 285 quotes by Herman Melville »
More Afraid Quotes
This quote is filed under Afraid Quotes,
one of 5,719 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
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People are so damned afraid that one day they might wake up and discover that they've grown old.
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I like being a strong, independent woman, and to be honest, I was never afraid to be on my own.
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I am afraid that the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.
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I am more afraid of those who are terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.
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I just let the work speak for itself. An actor is not afraid to take risks; to put on different…
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Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most…
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I grew up as a Mormon, and that had more of an impact on my values than my beliefs. I'm…
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Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck…
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Women's Lib? Oh, I'm afraid it doesn't interest me one bit. I've been so liberated it hurts.
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I am not finding pregnancy much of a joy. I am afraid of childbirth, but I am afraid I can't…
— Brigitte Bardot
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As a child, I was more afraid of tetanus shots than, for example, Dracula.
— Dave Barry
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I wasn't afraid to be laughed at or be loud.
— Lynda Barry
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