Do not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor
HERMAN MELVILLEDo not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor
HERMAN MELVILLEI do not think I have any uncharitable prejudice against the rattlesnake, still, I should not like to be one.
HERMAN MELVILLEIt is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.
HERMAN MELVILLEThe eyes are the gateway to the soul.
HERMAN MELVILLEWhat is an atheist, but one who does not, or will not, see in the universe a ruling principle of love; and what a misanthrope, but one who does not, or will not, see in man a ruling principle of kindness?
HERMAN MELVILLEThe sweetest joys of life grow in the very jaws of its perils.
HERMAN MELVILLEFailure is the test of greatness.
HERMAN MELVILLEMan is a money-making animal, which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence.
HERMAN MELVILLEWe cannot live for ourselves alone.
HERMAN MELVILLEHeaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians and Pagans alike – for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.
HERMAN MELVILLEThey talk of the dignity of work. The dignity is in leisure.
HERMAN MELVILLEThinking is, or ought to be, a coolness and a calmness; and our poor hearts throb, and our poor brains beat too much for that.
HERMAN MELVILLEThere is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath.
HERMAN MELVILLENature is nobody’s ally.
HERMAN MELVILLEThere are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method.
HERMAN MELVILLEHope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity.
HERMAN MELVILLE