--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For, thought Ahab, while even the highest…" description: "\"“For, thought Ahab, while even the highest earthly felicities ever have a certain unsignifying pettiness lurking in them, but, at bottom, all heartwoes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/herman-melville-162_creation_for-thought-ahab-while-even-the-highest_1811191.jpg" --- # For, thought Ahab, while even the highest earthly… ![“For, thought Ahab, while even the highest earthly felicities ever have a certain unsignifying pettiness lurking in them, but, at bottom, all heartwoes, a mystic significance, and, in some men, an archangelic grandeur; so do their diligent tracings-out not blue the obvious deduction. To trail the…” quote by Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/herman-melville-162_creation_for-thought-ahab-while-even-the-highest_1811191.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/herman-melville-162_creation_for-thought-ahab-while-even-the-highest_1811191.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b23/herman-melville-162_creation_for-thought-ahab-while-even-the-highest_1811191.jpg) > ““For, thought Ahab, while even the highest earthly felicities ever have a certain unsignifying pettiness lurking in them, but, at bottom, all heartwoes, a mystic significance, and, in some men, an archangelic grandeur; so do their diligent tracings-out not blue the obvious deduction. To trail the genealogies of these high mortal miseries, carries us at last among the sourceless primogenitures of the gods; so that, in the face of all the glad, hay-making suns, and the softcymballing, round the harvest-moons, we must needs give in to this: that the gods themselves are not for ever glad. The ineffaceable, sad birth-mark in the brow of man, is but the stamp of sorrow in the signers.”” [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human suffering carries a hidden, divine significance, suggesting that even divine joys are tinged with sorrow, and that the gods themselves are not eternally happy. **In simple terms:** Suffering hints at deeper meaning and divine melancholy. Key Takeaway Seek purpose in hardship. Themes suffering divine meaning existential melancholy Mood thoughtful somber Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - spiritual reflection - artistic creation - philosophical debate Key Concepts theology philosophy literature human condition Questions to Reflect On - What does sorrow teach us about joy? - Can divine melancholy be reconciled with human happiness? A Different Perspective The view may overlook joy’s intrinsic value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Divinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divinity/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) ## Related quotes > [“For, thought Ahab, while even the highest earthly felicities ever have a certain unsignifying pettiness lurking in them, but, at bottom, all heartwoes, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/for-thought-ahab-while-even-the-highest-earthly-felicities-ever-have-2/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“In the ferment of our civil societies, from which the guardian angels seem to depart, we see many every moment sliding at the brink.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-the-ferment-of-our-civil-societies-from-which-the-guardian-angels/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“War needs no gods, only mortal contestants, two enemies and whatever reasons they invent in order to justify killing each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/war-needs-no-gods-only-mortal-contestants-two-enemies-and-whatever/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [Maybe a new religion will rise now. Maybe without it, man will crumble in cynicism and selfishness because he really needs his gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/maybe-a-new-religion-will-rise-now-maybe-without-it-man-will-crumble/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [Ah fair Zenocrate, divine Zenocrate, Fair is too foul an epithet for thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-marlowe/ah-fair-zenocrate-divine-zenocrate-fair-is-too-foul-an-epithet-for/) [Christopher Marlowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-marlowe/) > [“No scripture is more divine than the innate divinity of the human self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/no-scripture-is-more-divine-than-the-innate-divinity-of-the-human-self/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-man-is-a-divinity-in-disguise-a-god-playing-the-fool/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I have now been an officer in this Church for a very long time. 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Surely they can not separate from our consciousness, shall follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/our-great-thoughts-our-great-affections-the-truths-of-our-life-never/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [It is through the body that everything comes to the mind. It is through and with your body that you have to reach realization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/it-is-through-the-body-that-everything-comes-to-the-mind-it-is/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) ## More by Herman Melville > [“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-man-though-idiotic-and-knowing-not-what-he-does-yet-full-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/but-were-the-coming-narrative-to-reveal-in-any-instance-the-complete/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“(On Ralph Waldo Emerson)I love all men who dive. 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For hardly have we mortals by long toilings extracted from this world's vast bulk its small but valuable sperm; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/yet-this-is-life-for-hardly-have-we-mortals-by-long-toilings/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I never fancied broiling fowls; - though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-never-fancied-broiling-fowls-though-once-broiled-judiciously/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/war-should-be-carried-on-like-a-monsoon-one-changeless-determination/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Genius is full of trash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/genius-is-full-of-trash/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Explore all 1,009 Herman Melville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## More Creation quotes > [“am not suggesting that successes in academics, athletics, or vocation somehow stand outside God’s good plan. Learning and play are joys that God himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-paul-jones/am-not-suggesting-that-successes-in-academics-athletics-or-vocation/) [Timothy Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-paul-jones/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. 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Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [I believe if there is a creator it will basically ask me two questions, how well did you enjoy my creation and what did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-believe-if-there-is-a-creator-it-will-basically-ask-me-two/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [With no other choices open to us, we'd turned our gaze seaward. 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