To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be that have tried it.

Quote by Herman Melville

Topics: Books Quotes, Writing Quotes

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method.

There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method.

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...

Art is the objectification of feeling.

Art is the objectification of feeling.

Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man...

Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man...

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...

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...

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 is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings...

There is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings...

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

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

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 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.

Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that's...

Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that's...

They talk of the dignity of work. The dignity is in leisure.

They talk of the dignity of work. The dignity is in leisure.

Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are...

Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are...

There is sorrow in the world, but goodness too; and goodness that is not greenness,...

There is sorrow in the world, but goodness too; and goodness that is not greenness,...

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without passport;...

In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without passport;...

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...