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

God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he...

God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he...

Truth is the silliest thing under the sun. Try to get a living by the...

Truth is the silliest thing under the sun. Try to get a living by the...

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...

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...

Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges.

Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges.

It is impossible to talk or to write without apparently throwing oneself helplessly open.

It is impossible to talk or to write without apparently throwing oneself helplessly open.

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

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

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...

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.

To be hated cordially, is only a left-handed compliment.

To be hated cordially, is only a left-handed compliment.

Know, thou, that the lines that live are turned out of a furrowed brow.

Know, thou, that the lines that live are turned out of a furrowed brow.

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.

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men;...

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men;...

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...

The march of conquest through wild provinces, may be the march of Mind; but not...

The march of conquest through wild provinces, may be the march of Mind; but not...

Is there some principal of nature which states that we never know the quality of...

Is there some principal of nature which states that we never know the quality of...

Whatever fortune brings, don't be afraid of doing things.

Whatever fortune brings, don't be afraid of doing things.

A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.

A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.

Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she...

Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she...

There is a touch of divinity even in brutes, and a special halo about a...

There is a touch of divinity even in brutes, and a special halo about a...