A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.

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

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge.

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.

Dream tonight of peacock tails, Diamond fields and spouter whales. Ills are many, blessing few, But dreams tonight will shelter you.

Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that's more than either, the grief and sin of idleness.

Meditation and water are wedded for ever.

I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up.

War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.

We accept too damned many things on the explanations of people who could have good reasons for lying.

I am simply an agnostic. I haven't yet had time or opportunity to explore the universe, and I don't know what I might run on to in some nook or corner.

That's what acting is, it's exploring conflict.

A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.

The progress of the natural sciences in modern times has of course so much exceeded all expectations that any suggestion that there may be some limits to it is bound to arouse suspicion.

When we talk about the future, we often talk about it as damage and limitation exercise. That needn't be the case - it could be a Renaissance.

There are three arts which are concerned with all things: one which uses, another which makes, and a third which imitates them.

Happy people die whole, they are all dissolved in a moment, they have had what they wanted.

Direct me gods, whose changes are all holy, To where it flickers deep in grass, the moly.

Before I can embrace freedom, I should be aware of what duties I have.