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, should be forbid.

Quote by Herman Melville

Topics: Books Quotes

He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.

He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring...

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring...

So philosophers so throughly comprehend us as horses.

So philosophers so throughly comprehend us as horses.

Let us speak, though we show all our faults and weaknesses, - for it is...

Let us speak, though we show all our faults and weaknesses, - for it is...

Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

Do not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor

Do not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

The beauty myth moves for men as a mirage; its power lies in its ever-receding...

The beauty myth moves for men as a mirage; its power lies in its ever-receding...

There is nothing namable but that some men will, or undertake to, do it for...

There is nothing namable but that some men will, or undertake to, do it for...

Friendship at first sight, like love at first sight is said to be the only...

Friendship at first sight, like love at first sight is said to be the only...

There are hardly five critics in America; and several of them are asleep.

There are hardly five critics in America; and several of them are asleep.

I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll...

I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll...

We may have civilized bodies and yet barbarous souls. We are blind to the real...

We may have civilized bodies and yet barbarous souls. We are blind to the real...

All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but...

All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but...

There is all of the difference in the world between paying and being paid.

There is all of the difference in the world between paying and being paid.

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads,...

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads,...

There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by...

There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by...

There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a...

There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a...

Yet habit - strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?

Yet habit - strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?