"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.
"
Selected Quotes of Herman Melville 1819-1891
"Call me Ishmael.
"
"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.
"
"I have swam through libraries and sailed through oceans, but I have never seen anything as terrifying as Moby Dick.
"
"There is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.
"
"It is not down on any map; true places never are.
"
"Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.
"
"From hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.
"
"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.
"
"There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness.
"
"Any man who has gone farther and fared worse than ever, may console himself with the thought that it could be the albatross or the flying Dutchman.
"
"Give me a condor's quill! Give me Vesuvius' crater for an inkstand!
"
"I have no objection to any person's religion, be in what it may, so long as that person does not kill or murder any other in its name.
"
"The sea is his; he is but a copycat of the true owner.
"
"To preach the Truth to him who knew it not, is but to give him a little time to run about the world in misery and desolation.
"
"Heaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians and Pagans alike – for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.
"
"As for finish, that reminds me of the old Scriptural exhortation to some to pray without ceasing – but I never knew how to go about it.
"
"I leave a white and turbid wake; pale waters, paler cheeks, where'er we sail.
"
"Thou showest thy black side; and again, thy loveliest Isle of Love is just as- Black.
"
"I'll try a pagan friend; since Christian kindness has proved so hollow-hearted.
"
"Is there no middle ground between mammon and mammoth?
"
"A hat without any crown!
"
"And I only am escaped alone to tell thee!
"
"Unbidden curses blasted him, and how, O Jane, Joan, you might have snatched back the eternity of general fancy. Now it was too late!
"
"Oh, ye foolish! Throw all these thunderheads into the ocean – you are but a conservative man.
"
"Yes, this was the life; saving up pennies on the damp pavement, and then I'll ruin them with dry flour and grease.
"