Fame is an accident; merit a thing absolute. Herman Melville More Quotes by Herman Melville More Quotes From Herman Melville Better be secure under one king, than exposed to violence from twenty millions of monarchs, though oneself be one of them. Herman Melville violencetwentieskings You must have plenty of sea-room to tell the truth in. Herman Melville telling-the-truthsearooms I baptize you not in the name of the father, but in the name of the devil. (Ego baptizo te in nomine patris, sed in nomine diaboli.) Herman Melville egonamesfather Woe to him whom this world charms from Gospel duty. Woe to him who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God has brewed them into a gale. Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appal. Woe to him whose good name is more to him than goodness. Woe to him who, in this world, courts not dishonor! Woe to him who would not be true, even though to be false were salvation. Yea, woe to him who, as the great Pilot Paul has it, while preaching to others is himself a castaway. Herman Melville oilnameswater The idea of Jehovah was born here... Out of the rude elements of the insignificant thoughts thoughts that are in all men, they reared the transcendent conception of a God. Herman Melville rudemenideas We incline to think that God cannot explain His own secrets and that He would like a little information upon certain points Himself. We mortals astonish Him as much as He us. But it is this Being of the matter; there lies the knot with which we choke ourselves. As soon as you say Me, a God, a Nature, so soon you jump off from your stool and hang from the beam. Yes, that word is the hangman. Take God out of the dictionary, and you would have Him in the street. Herman Melville secretlyingthinking The reason the mass of men fear God, and at bottom dislike Him, is because they rather distrust His heart, and fancy Him all brain like a watch. (You perceive I employ a capital initial in the pronoun referring to the Deity; don't you think there is a slight dash of flunkeyism in that usage?). Herman Melville heartmenthinking We should, if possible, prove a teacher to posterity, instead of being the pupil of by-gone generations. More shall come after us than have gone before; the world is not yet middle-aged. Herman Melville generationsgoneteacher There seems no reason why patriotism and narrowness should go together, or why intellectual impartiality should be confounded with political trimming, or why serviceable truth should keep cloistered be a cause not partisan. Herman Melville patriotismpoliticalintellectual Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into the other? So with sanity and insanity. Herman Melville differenceshealthcolor A chaplain is the minister of the Prince of Peace serving the host of the God of War--Mars. As such, he is as incongruous as a musket would be on the altar at Christmas. Why, then, is he there? Because he indirectly subserves the purpose attested by the cannon; because too he lends the sanction of the religion of the meek to that which practically is the abrogation of everything but brute Force. Herman Melville purposewould-bewar Let us pray that the great historic tragedy of our time may not have been enacted without instructing our whole beloved country through terror and pity; and may fulfillment verify in the end those expectations which kindle the bards of Progress and Humanity. Herman Melville expectationswarcountry Charity, like poetry, should be cultivated, if only for its being graceful. Herman Melville charitypoetrygrace Of all human events, perhaps, the publication of a first volume of verses is the most insignificant; but though a matter of no moment to the world, it is still of some concern to the author. Herman Melville eventspoetryliterature Courage is the most common and vulgar of the virtues. Herman Melville virtuecouragecommon Nothing can lift the heart of man like manhood in a fellow man. Herman Melville fellow-manheartmen In some things, we Americans leave to other countries the carrying out of the principle that stands at the head of our Declaration of Independence. Herman Melville independenceprinciplescountry Seat thyself sultanically among the moons of Saturn, and take high abstracted man alone; and he seems a wonder, a grandeur, and a woe. But from that same point, take mankind in mass, and for the most part, they seem a mob of unnecessary duplicates, both contemporary and hereditary. Herman Melville saturnmoonmen I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas. Herman Melville sailforbiddensea There is no life in thee, now, except that rocking life imparted by a gently rolling ship; by her, borrowed from the sea; by the sea, from the inscrutable tides of God. Herman Melville rollingtidessea
