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Quote by Herman Melville

Work

The Ambiguities

This book delves into the intricacies of human nature, relationships, and societal norms, presenting a tapestry of characters and narratives that challenge conventional understanding and provoke thought. more

Author

Herman Melville
Herman Melville

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. more

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“At my years, and with my disposition, or rather, constitution, one gets to care less and less for everything except downright goodfeeling. Life is so short, and so ridiculous and irrational (from a certain point of view) that one knows not what to make of it, unless--well, finish the sentence for yourself.”

KnowsLifeYearsWellsFeelingsCareLife IsCertainViewsConstitutionSentencesPoint Of ViewRidiculousCynicismIrrationalDispositionGood FeelingLife Is So Short
Book:Correspondence
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“Books, gentlemen, are a species of men, and introduced to them you circulate in the "very best society" that this world can furnish, without the intolerable infliction of "dressing" to go into it. In your shabbiest coat and cosiest slippers you may socially chat even with the fastidious Earl of Chesterfield, and lounging under a tree enjoy the divinest intimacy with my late lord of Verulam.”

MenWorldMayBookReadingEnjoyLordTreeThis WorldLateSpeciesIntimacyGentlemanReading BooksCoatsDressingsSlippersFastidiousInflictionLounging
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)
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“The Past is dead, and has no resurrection; but the Future is endowed with such a life, that it lives to us even in anticipation. The Past is, in many things, the foe of mankind; the Future is, in all things, our friend. In the Past is no hope; The Future is both hope and fruition. The Past is the text-book of tyrants; the Future is the Bible of the Free. Those who are solely governed by the Past stand like Lot's wife, crystallized in the act of looking backward, and forever incapable of looking before.”

BookPastForeverWifeMankindAll ThingsTyrantsResurrectionAnticipationLooking BackIncapableFoeNo HopeFruition
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)
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“The ancients of the ideal description, instead of trying to turn their impracticable chimeras, as does the modern dreamer, into social and political prodigies, deposited them in great works of art, which still live while states and constitutions have perished, bequeathing to posterity not shameful defects but triumphant successes.”

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