Herman Melville

Truth is in things, and not in the mind, by which things are observed.

It is not down on any map; true places never are.

There are no pains that great love cannot assuage.

All deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea.

The sea is the only place where I feel at home.

I am a man who has experienced much, and learned little.

The strongest of all arguments, in favor of the present constitution of government, is, that though it be not the best possible, yet it is better than any other.

The sea, though it be the image of the ungraspable phantom of life, is yet the only visible symbol of eternity.

There is nothing in the world so much like a man as a ship.

To be short, I am not a Christian, but a heathen, and a cannibal.

The more I see of the world, the more I am convinced that every man is a rascal.

A good laugh is a mighty good thing, and rather too scarce a good thing.

Life is a voyage, and we are all voyagers.

All noble things are as difficult as they are rare.

There are cases in which a man would be ashamed not to be a fool.

It is better to be a fool than to be wise.

The highest truth is in things, and not in words.

I would rather be a fool than a wise man.

The truest of all books is the Bible, the falsest is the newspaper.

Every man's life is a train of events, in which many a caboose is coupled to the engine.