A hermitage in the forest is the refuge of the narrow-minded misanthrope; a hammock on the ocean is the asylum for the generous distressed. Herman Melville More Quotes by Herman Melville More Quotes From Herman Melville That mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him, that mortal man cannot be true--not true, or undeveloped. Herman Melville sorrowjoymen 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. Herman Melville jeeringselffeelings When we affect to condemn savages, we should remember that by doing so we asperse our own progenitors; for they were savages also.Who can swear that among the naked British barbarians sent to Rome to be stared at more than 1500 years ago, the ancestor of Bacon might not have been found?--Why, among the very Thugs of India, or the bloody Dyaks of Borneo, exists the germ of all that is intellectually elevated and grand. We are all of us--Anglo-Saxons, Dyaks and Indians--sprung from one head and made in one image. Herman Melville thugromeyears Delight,--top-gallant delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or lord, but the Lord his God, and is only a patriot to heaven. Herman Melville godlawjoy The great God absolute! The centre and circumference of all democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality! Herman Melville democracydivinegod As a man-of-war that sails through the sea, so this earth that sails through the air. We mortals are all on board a fast-sailing,never-sinking world-frigate, of which God was the shipwright; and she is but one craft in a Milky-Way fleet, of which God is the Lord High Admiral. Herman Melville airmenwar The dinner-hour is the summer of the day: full of sunshine, I grant; but not like the mellow autumn of supper. Herman Melville autumnsunshinesummer There are doubts, sir, which, if man have them, it is not man that can solve them. Herman Melville solvedoubtmen 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. Herman Melville maymenworld The man that has anything bountifully laughable about him, be sure there is more in that man than you perhaps think for. Herman Melville laughtermenthinking ...a man of true science uses few hard words, and those only when none Herman Melville purposementhinking There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals. Herman Melville purpledevildemocracy 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. Herman Melville oysterslightfood Much of a man's character will be found betokened in his backbone. I would rather feel your spine than your skull, whoever you are. A thin joist of a spine never yet upheld a full and noble soul. Herman Melville skullscharactermen Civilization does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she has not even her full share of them. They flourish in greater abundance and attain greater strength among many barbarous people. The hospitality of the wild Arab, the courage of the North American Indian, and the faithful friendships of some of the Polynesian nations, far surpass any thing of a similar kind among the polished communities of Europe. Herman Melville europecivilizationpeople Twelve o'clock! It is the natural centre, key-stone, and very heart of the day. At that hour, the sun has arrived at the top of his hill; and as he seems to hang poised there a while, before coming down on the other side, it is but reasonable to suppose that he is then stopping to dine; setting an eminent example to all mankind. Herman Melville stoppingkeysheart There is something in us, somehow, that, in the most degraded condition, we snatch at a chance to deceive ourselves into a fanciedsuperiority to others, whom we suppose lower in the scale than ourselves. Herman Melville chanceraceclass The American, who up to the present day, has evinced, in Literature, the largest brain with the largest heart, that man is Nathaniel Hawthorne. Herman Melville brainheartmen The Navy is the asylum for the perverse, the home of the unfortunate. Here the sons of adversity meet the children of calamity, and here the children of calamity meet the offspring of sin. Herman Melville adversityhomechildren When a companion's heart of itself overflows, the best one can do is to do nothing. Herman Melville companionshipemotionheart
