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

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...

It is not down in any map; true places never are.

It is not down in any map; true places never are.

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities

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...

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...

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

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 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.

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...

Yet habit - strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?

Yet habit - strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?

He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and...

He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and...

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...

Death is only a launching into the region of the strange Untried; it is but...

Death is only a launching into the region of the strange Untried; it is but...

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...

To be called one thing, is oftentimes to be another.

To be called one thing, is oftentimes to be another.

Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting...

Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting...

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

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

At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect.

At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect.

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

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

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.

A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.