There is little man has made that approaches anything in nature, but a sailing ship does. There is not much man has made that calls to all the best in him, but a sailing ship does.

Only fools and passengers drink at sea.

Every ship should have a cat.

The singing of sea shanties as working songs at sea is a lost art

The fundamental evil of the world arose from the fact that the good Lord has not created money enough.

The Synthesis consists in assuming the Causes discovered and established as Principles, and by them explaining the Phænomena proceeding from them, and proving the Explanations.

Things don't always look as they seem.

There are people who would love to spend their last ten years, or five years, or whatever it is, on the surface of Mars.

Progress is built, in effect, upon the foundations of necessary failure. That is the essential paradox of expert performance.

I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don't hurt me, because it is me.

... reform the environment and not man; being absolutely confident that if you give man the right environment, he will behave favorably.

I've opposed black regimes and white regimes, leftist regimes and rightist regimes. I'm close to Aristide because I have respect for him, but all that is beside the point.

People don't want you to be yourself, they just want you to be the person that they've decided you should be.

Writing a first novel takes so much effort, with such little promise of result or reward, that it must necessarily be a labour of love bordering on madness.