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. "