Even Solomon, he says, the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it invert thee, deaden thee, as for...
Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the dev...
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 write it; for it is a thing most sorrowful, nay shocking,...
وهذه القوة المدهشة في ذنـَب الحوت لا تنحو أبدا لعرقلة التـّثني الرشيق في حركاته، حيث اليُسر الرشيق يتموّج من خلال جبروت القوة. بل العكس هو الصحيح: فإن تلك الحركات تستمد جمالها الباهر منها، فالقوة الحق...
ما أشد ما أحتقر الأرض ذات الحواجز والإتاوات والجوازات! تلك الطريق العامة التي خدّدتها نعال العبودية وحوافرها! وتحوّلتُ إلى الإعجاب بعظمة البحر الذي لا تنطبع فيه آثار.
Yea, foolish mortals, Noah's flood is not yet subsided; two thirds of the fair world it yet covers.
Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.
Seldom have I known any profound being that had anything to say to this world, unless forced to stammer out something by way of getting a living. Oh! happy that the world is such an excellent listener...
Let faith oust fact; let fancy oust memory; I look deep down and do believe.
For the scene of suffering is a scene of joy when the suffering is past; and the silent reminiscence of hardships departed is sweeter than the presence of delight.
Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?—Posted like silent sentinels all around the to...
Because no man can ever feel his own identity aright except his eyes be closed; as if darkness were indeed the proper element of our essences, though light be more congenial to our clayey part.
. .it is better to sail with a moody good captain than a laughing bad one.
No more of this blubbering now, we are going a-whaling, and there is plenty of that yet to come.
If some books are deemed most baneful and their sale forbid, how, then, with deadlier facts, not dreams of doting men? those whom books will hurt will not be proof against events. events, not books, s...
For there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself.
Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into t...
Where lies the final harbor, whence we unmoor no more? In what rapt ether sails the world, of which the weariest will never weary? Where is the foundling’s father hidden? Our souls are like those orph...
To enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you...
The Nantucketer, he alone resides and riots on the sea; he alone, in Bible language, goes down to it in ships; to and fro ploughing it as his own special plantation. There is his home; there lies his...