Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Herman Melville

Quote by Herman Melville

“I say, I can not identify that thing which is called happiness, that thing whose token is a laugh, or a smile, or a silent serenity on the lip. I may have been happy, but it is not in my conscious memory now. Nor do I feel a longing for it, as though I had never had it; my spirit seeks different food from happiness, for I think I have a suspicion of what it is. I have suffered wretchedness, but not because of the absence of happiness, and without praying for happiness. I pray for peace -- for motionlessness -- for the feeling of myself, as of some plant, absorbing life without seeking it, and existing without individual sensation. I feel that there can be no perfect peace in individualness. Therefore, I hope one day to feel myself drank up into the pervading spirit animating all things. I feel I am an exile here. I still go straying.”

Quote by Herman Melville

Work

Pierre; Or, The Ambiguities

Written by a renowned author, this novel delves into the intricate psychological and ethical challenges faced by its protagonist, Pierre. The story is renowned for its exploration of themes such as identity, love, and the struggle for self-understanding. 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

You May Also Like

“I feel a resurgence of my 6-year-old self… that little warrior, goddess of a girl reminding me of who I was when I was little, before the world got its hands on me.”

“The disruption of the anticipated American future that was simply to have unrolled out of the solid American past, out of each generation’s getting smartersmarter for knowing the inadequacies and limitations of the generations beforeout of each new generation’s breaking away from the parochialism a little further, out of the desire to go the limit in America with your rights, forming yourself as an ideal person who gets rid of the traditional Jewish habits and attitudes, who frees himself of the pre-America insecurities and the old, constraining obsessions so as to live unapologetically as an equal among equals.”

“America is The Warning (Sonnet) Finally America has fallen, it's a great day for the human race, now that the american dream is infected, it's a golden occasion for earth upliftment. Uncle Sam has contracted something nasty, nothing surprising, it's long time coming; the time has never been more immaculate, for actual human cultures and civilizations to dream beyond the monkeys of silicon valley. It's a golden age of decolonization, time to rescue your mind from the parasites; it's time for great rejoicing, now that the land of plague has lost its marbles - fall of America is a blessing for humankind. West never had culture to begin with, neither Washington nor Rome or Buck House - when parasites bury themselves in castles, light of the human engulf the world around.”

“This is the dark part of the American story, the kind of thing we work to hide. Mobility means discomfort, because so much has to change; one can’t allow for the satisfactions of stasis: You prick yourself and move, digging spurs into your own hide to get going, forcing yourself to forget the comforts of the barn. In this country, we speak grandly of this metamorphosis, never stopping to consider that for many class travelers with passports stamped for new territory, the trip is nothing less than a bridge burning.”