All wars are boyish, and are fought by boys.
Herman Melville
Wars, Youth, Conflict, Masculinity, Humanity, Philosophy
Herman Melville’s Quotes On Topics
Strong Waters | Joy Sorrow | National Ambition | Commitment | True Friends | Existence | Food Respect | Captain | Moonlight | Earthly Struggle | Unyielding Self | Misread Wisdom | Island | Truth Pace | Circumspection | Meditation | Insult | Navy Asylum | Shark Hunger | Faith And Fact | More
More Herman Melville Quotes
“The sailor is frankness, the landsman is finesse. Life is not a game with the sailor, demanding the long head.” Herman Melville
Sailor, Frankness, Life’s Philosophy, Humanity, Finesse, Realism
Herman Melville Sailor, Frankness, Life’s Philosophy, Humanity, Finesse, Realism“I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb.” Herman Melville
Writing, Guilt, Innocence, Book, Morality, Self-perception
Herman Melville Writing, Guilt, Innocence, Book, Morality, Self-perception“I’ll try a pagan friend, thought I, since Christian kindness has proved but hollow courtesy.” Herman Melville
Faith Issues, Christian Beliefs, Religious Views, Human Interaction, Friendship, Trust
Herman Melville Faith Issues, Christian Beliefs, Religious Views, Human Interaction, Friendship, Trust“For we are all killers, on land and on sea; Bonapartes and Sharks included.” Herman Melville
Killing, Humanity, Violence, War, Conflict, Nature
Herman Melville Killing, Humanity, Violence, War, Conflict, Nature“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” Herman Melville
Mighty Book, Great Theme, Book, Theme, Mighty, Creation
Herman Melville Mighty Book, Great Theme, Book, Theme, Mighty, Creation“In one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans.” Herman Melville
Hell Idea, Apple Dumpling, Hereditary Dyspepsia, Hell, Idea, Dyspepsia
Herman Melville Hell Idea, Apple Dumpling, Hereditary Dyspepsia, Hell, Idea, Dyspepsia“Nevertheless, Leviathan is of so mighty a magnitude, all his proportions are so stately, that the same deficiency which in the sculptured Jove were hideous, in him is no blemish at all. Nay, it is an added grandeur. A nose to the whale would have been impertinent.” Herman Melville
Leviathan, Magnitude, Nature’s Beauty, Grandeur, Symbolism, Perfection
Herman Melville Leviathan, Magnitude, Nature’s Beauty, Grandeur, Symbolism, Perfection“Give me a condor’s quill! Give me Vesuvius crater for an inkstand!” Herman Melville
Condor Quill, Vesuvius Inkstand, Inkstand Condor, Quill, Vesuvius, Inkstand
Herman Melville Condor Quill, Vesuvius Inkstand, Inkstand Condor, Quill, Vesuvius, Inkstand“Of the quaking recruit, three pitched battles make a grim grenadier; and he who shrank from the muzzle of a cannon, is now ready to yield his mustache for a sponge.” Herman Melville
Grenadier Courage, Battle Hardened, Fear Transformation, Courage, Battle, Fear
Herman Melville Grenadier Courage, Battle Hardened, Fear Transformation, Courage, Battle, Fear“The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating them, till they are left living with half a heart and half a lung.” Herman Melville
White Whale, Obsession, Monomania, Malice, Fate, Struggle
Herman Melville White Whale, Obsession, Monomania, Malice, Fate, Struggle“Go to the meat-market of a Saturday night and see the crowds of live bipeds staring up at the long rows of dead quadrupeds. Does not that sight take a tooth out of the cannibal’s jaw?” Herman Melville
Meat Market, Saturday Night, Cannibal Tooth, Market, Cannibal, Night
Herman Melville Meat Market, Saturday Night, Cannibal Tooth, Market, Cannibal, Night“And thus, though surrounded by circle upon circle of consternations and affrights, did these inscrutable creatures at the centre freely and fearlessly indulge in all peaceful concernments.” Herman Melville
Inscrutable Creatures, Peaceful Concernments, Fearless Circles, Creatures, Peaceful, Fearless
Herman Melville Inscrutable Creatures, Peaceful Concernments, Fearless Circles, Creatures, Peaceful, Fearless“Surrounded as we are by the wants and woes of our fellow-men, and yet given to follow our own pleasures, regardless of their pains, are we not like people sitting up with a corpse, and making merry in the house of the dead?” Herman Melville
Selfishness, Humanity, Indifference, Life’s Struggles, Death, Irony
Herman Melville Selfishness, Humanity, Indifference, Life’s Struggles, Death, Irony“Don’t whale it too much a’ Lord’s days, men; but don’t miss a fair chance either, that’s rejecting Heaven’s good gifts.” Herman Melville
Fair Chance, Heaven’s Gifts, Whale Guidance, Days, Heaven, Gifts
Herman Melville Fair Chance, Heaven’s Gifts, Whale Guidance, Days, Heaven, Gifts“In his fiery eyes of scorn and triumph, you then saw Ahab in all his fatal pride.” Herman Melville
Fiery Eyes, Fatal Pride, Scorn Triumph, Pride, Eyes, Scorn
Herman Melville Fiery Eyes, Fatal Pride, Scorn Triumph, Pride, Eyes, Scorn“A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.” Herman Melville
Education, Life’s Journey, Experience, Whale Ship, Wisdom, Learning
Herman Melville Education, Life’s Journey, Experience, Whale Ship, Wisdom, Learning“Hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple dumpling.” Herman Melville
Hell Concept, Apple Dumpling, Philosophical Humor, Hell, Humor, Ideas
Herman Melville Hell Concept, Apple Dumpling, Philosophical Humor, Hell, Humor, Ideas“Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it invert thee, deaden thee, as for the time it did me. There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness.” Herman Melville
Fire, Wisdom, Madness, Pain, Irony, Life Lessons
Herman Melville Fire, Wisdom, Madness, Pain, Irony, Life Lessons“Squeeze! squeeze! squeeze! all the morning long; I squeezed that sperm till I myself almost melted into it; I squeezed that sperm till a strange sort of insanity came over me; and I found myself unwittingly squeezing my co-laborers’ hands in it, mistaking their hands for the gentle globules.” Herman Melville
Squeeze, Madness, Labor, Insanity, Work, Obsession
Herman Melville Squeeze, Madness, Labor, Insanity, Work, Obsession