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Herman Melville Quotes

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Herman Melville was a renowned 19th-century American novelist known for his profound psychological descriptions and unique literary style. His masterpiece, 'Moby-Dick', is considered a classic of American literature.

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All Men World Ifs Sea Literature Soul Heart May Firsts Knows

Famous Herman Melville Quotes

“To certain temperaments, especially when previously agitated by any deep feeling, there is perhaps nothing more exasperating, andwhich sooner explodes all self-command, than the coarse, jeering insolence of a porter, cabman, or hack-driver.”

Self Feelings Certain Command Drivers Temperament Hacks Coarse Insolence Deep Feeling Jeering

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)

“Men there are, who having quite done with the world, all its merely worldly contents are become so far indifferent, that they carelittle of what mere worldly imprudence they may be guilty.”

Men World May Done Mere Guilty Indifferent Worldly

Book:Pierre; or The Ambiguities

Source: Pierre; or The Ambiguities

“...a man of true science uses few hard words, and those only when none other will answer his purpose; Where as the smatterer in science...thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.”

Thinking Men Hard Use Purpose Answers Hard Things Hard Words

Author:Herman Melville

“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began.”

Source: Annotated Moby Dick or, the Whale with English Grammar Exercises: by Herman Melville (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)

“The food of thy soul is light and space; feed it then on light and space. But the food of thy body is champagne and oysters; feed it then on champagne and oysters; and so shall it merit a joyful resurrection, if there is any to be.”

Ifs Soul Body Light Space Food Merit Resurrection Joyful Champagne Oysters

Book:Pierre, Or The Ambiguities: Volume Seven, Scholarly Edition

Source: Pierre, Or The Ambiguities: Volume Seven, Scholarly Edition

“There is nothing so slipperily alluring as sadness; we become sad in the first place by having nothing stirring to do; we continue in it, because we have found a snug sofa at last.”

Firsts Lasts Found Sadness Sad Stirring Sofas Alluring

Book:Pierre; Or, The Ambiguities

Source: Pierre; Or, The Ambiguities

“In some things, we Americans leave to other countries the carrying out of the principle that stands at the head of our Declaration of Independence.”

Country Principles Independence Other Countries Declaration Declaration Of Independence

Book:Redburn's First Voyage: Works of Melville

Source: Redburn's First Voyage: Works of Melville

“We should, if possible, prove a teacher to posterity, instead of being the pupil of by-gone generations. More shall come after us than have gone before; the world is not yet middle-aged.”

Ifs World Should Gone Teacher Generations Middle Prove Posterity Pupils Middle Aged

Book:White-jacket: or, The world in a man-of-war

Source: White-jacket: or, The world in a man-of-war

“What is an atheist, but one who does not, or will not, see in the universe a ruling principle of love; and what a misanthrope, but one who does not, or will not, see in man a ruling principle of kindness?”

Men Doe Universe Principles Kindness Atheist Ruling Misanthrope

Book:The Confidence-man: His Masquerade

Source: The Confidence-man: His Masquerade

“Nature has not implanted any power in man that was not meant to be exercised at times, though too often our powers have been abused.”

Men Has Beens Meant To Be Unendurable Were Not Meant To Be

Book:White-jacket: or, The world in a man-of-war

Source: White-jacket: or, The world in a man-of-war

“The worst of our evils we blindly inflict upon ourselves; our officers cannot remove them, even if they would.”

Ifs Evil Worst Remove Officers

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)

“You must have plenty of sea-room to tell the truth in.”

Rooms Sea Plenty Telling The Truth

Book:Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, 1839-1860: Volume Nine, Scholarly Edition

Source: Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, 1839-1860: Volume Nine, Scholarly Edition

“Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a passenger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your ship were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning.”

Giving Feels Firsts Soul Water Boys Sea Crazy Land Brother Holy Healthy Sight Environmental Ships Greek Mystical Deities Vibrations Voyages Passengers Robust Healthy Soul

Book:Moby Dick

Source: Moby Dick

“Until we understand that our grief outweighs a thousand joys, we will never understand what Christianity is all about.”

Joy Suffering Grief Christianity Thousand

Author:Herman Melville

“Aid my disillusionment, my friend!”

Sadness Sad My Friends Aids Disillusionment

Author:Herman Melville

“Faith and philosophy are air, but events are brass.”

Philosophy Air Events Brass

Book:Pierre; or The Ambiguities

Source: Pierre; or The Ambiguities

“Failure is the test of greatness.”

Greatness Tests

Author:Herman Melville

“Human madness is oftentimes a cunning and most feline thing”

Humans Madness Cunning Feline

Book:Moby-Dick

Source: Moby-Dick

“In what rapt ether sails the world, of which the weariest will never weary?”

World Sail Weary

Book:Moby-Dick

Source: Moby-Dick

“True places are not found on maps.”

Found Maps

Author:Herman Melville

“Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs. So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters.”

Grows Subjects Branches Productive Chapters Trunks Twigs

Book:Moby Dick

Source: Moby Dick

“No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one- I mean a downright bumpkin dandy- a fellow that, in the dog-days of summer, will mow his two acres in buckskin gloves for fear of tanning his hands.”

Mean Two Country Hands Dog Summer Towns Fellows Compare Gloves Acres Dandy Tanning Dog Days

Book:Moby Dick; or, The Whale

Source: Moby Dick; or, The Whale

“A man can be honest in any sort of skin.”

Men Honest Skins Being Honest

Book:Moby-Dick

Source: Moby-Dick

“The pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bearthe earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invokedfor favorable winds. Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.”

World Firsts Earth Wind Fairs Storm Ships Passages Bows Breeze Wrath Voyages Foul Pulpit

Book:Annotated Moby Dick or, the Whale with English Grammar Exercises: by Herman Melville (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)

Source: Annotated Moby Dick or, the Whale with English Grammar Exercises: by Herman Melville (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)

“Where lies the final harbor, whence we unmoor no more?”

Lying Finals Harbors

Book:Moby-Dick: or, The Whale

Source: Moby-Dick: or, The Whale

“Lo! ye believers in gods all goodness, and in man all ill, lo you! see the omniscient gods oblivious of suffering man; and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”

Men Doe Suffering Knowing Sweet Gratitude Goodness Ill Believer Idiotic Oblivious Love And Gratitude Omniscient Sweet Things

Book:Moby-Dick: or, The Whale

Source: Moby-Dick: or, The Whale

“For though consciences are as unlike as foreheads, every intelligence, not including the Scriptural devils who "believe and tremble" has one.”

Believe Devil Conscience Including Foreheads

Book:Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories

Source: Billy Budd, Bartleby, and Other Stories

“The profound calm which only apparently precedes and prophesies of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; for indeed, the calm is but the wrapper and envelop of the storm, and contains it in itself, as the seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion.”

Balls Profound Calm Storm Awful Explosions Rifles Powder

Book:HERMAN MELVILLE – Premium Collection: 24 Novels & Novellas; With 140+ Poems & Essays: Adventure Classics, Sea Tales & Philosophical Novels, Including Moby-Dick, Typee, Omoo, Bartleby the Scrivener, Benito Cereno, Mardi, Redburn, White-Jacket, Pierre, Israel Potter, The Confidence-Man…

Source: HERMAN MELVILLE – Premium Collection: 24 Novels & Novellas; With 140+ Poems & Essays: Adventure Classics, Sea Tales & Philosophical Novels, Including Moby-Dick, Typee, Omoo, Bartleby the Scrivener, Benito Cereno, Mardi, Redburn, White-Jacket, Pierre, Israel Potter, The Confidence-Man…

“And the visible world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright.”

World Seems Invisible Visible Spheres Fright

Author:Herman Melville

“It is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realise the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.”

Turns Silent Caught Mortals Subtle Realising Peril Whales Sudden Death

Book:Moby Dick

Source: Moby Dick

“Ignorance is the father of all fear.”

Father Ignorance

Author:Herman Melville

“Thrusted light is worse than presented pistols.”

Light Pistols