Herman Melville Quotes

Quotes about:

• 

  It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

  Herman Melville

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Herman Melville, Harrison Hayford, G. Thomas Tanselle (1987). “Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, 1839-1860: Volume Nine, Scholarly Edition”, p.247, Northwestern University Press

  152 Copy quote
• 

  Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.

  Herman Melville

  Inspirational, Learning, Knowledge

  Herman Melville, Harrison Hayford, G. Thomas Tanselle (1987). “Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, 1839-1860: Volume Nine, Scholarly Edition”, p.296, Northwestern University Press

  177 Copy quote

• To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.

  Herman Melville

  Life, Birthday, Time

  26 Copy quote

• If you are poor, avoid wine as a costly luxury; if you are rich, shun it as a fatal indulgence. Stick to plain water.

  Herman Melville

  Wine, Luxury, Water

  Herman Melville (1855). “Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile”, p.76

  4 Copy quote

• Only the man who says no is free

  Herman Melville

  Men, He Man

  15 Copy quote

• Life’s a voyage that’s homeward bound.

  Herman Melville

  Life, Inspiring, Voyages

  Herman Melville (1970). “White-jacket: Or, The World in a Man-of-war”, p.400, Northwestern University Press

  33 Copy quote

• Ignorance is the father of all fear.

  Herman Melville

  Father, Ignorance

  7 Copy quote
• 

  No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.

  Herman Melville

  Dog, Horse, Philosopher

  Herman Melville (2016). “Redburn.His First Voyage”, p.222, Herman Melville

  63 Copy quote

• He knows himself, and all that's in him, who knows adversity.

  Herman Melville

  Knowledge, Adversity, Self

  Herman Melville (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)”, p.1231, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

• There's magic in the water that draws all men away form the land, that leads them over hills, down creeks and streams and rivers to the sea.

  Herman Melville

  Men, Sea, Fishing

  6 Copy quote

• We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.

  Herman Melville

  Inspirational, Life, Spiritual

  65 Copy quote

• The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails whereon my soul is grooved to run

  Herman Melville

  Running, Iron, Soul

  Herman Melville (1892). “Moby Dick”, p.161

  13 Copy quote

• The Past is dead, and has no resurrection; but the Future is endowed with such a life, that it lives to us even in anticipation. The Past is, in many things, the foe of mankind; the Future is, in all things, our friend. In the Past is no hope; The Future is both hope and fruition. The Past is the text-book of tyrants; the Future is the Bible of the Free. Those who are solely governed by the Past stand like Lot's wife, crystallized in the act of looking backward, and forever incapable of looking before.

  Herman Melville

  Book, Past, Tyrants

  Herman Melville (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)”, p.1541, Delphi Classics

  87 Copy quote

• The eyes are the gateway to the soul.

  Herman Melville

  Eye, Soul, Vision

  13 Copy quote

• I will live and die by this testimony: that I loved a good conscience; that I never invaded another man's liberty; and that I preserved my own.

  Herman Melville

  Men, Liberty, Testimony

  Herman Melville (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)”, p.1017, Delphi Classics

  5 Copy quote

• It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great. Failure is the true test of greatness.

  Herman Melville

  Greatness, Men, Tests

  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Julian Hawthorne (2015). “Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Letters, Diaries, Reminiscences and Extensive Biographies: Autobiographical Writings of the Renowned American Novelist, Author of “The Scarlet Letter”, “The House of Seven Gables” and “Twice-Told Tales””, p.1775, e-artnow

  69 Copy quote

• He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.

  Herman Melville

  Success, Wisdom, Failure

  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Julian Hawthorne (2015). “Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Letters, Diaries, Reminiscences and Extensive Biographies: Autobiographical Writings of the Renowned American Novelist, Author of “The Scarlet Letter”, “The House of Seven Gables” and “Twice-Told Tales””, p.1775, e-artnow

  10 Copy quote

• The sweetest joys of life grow in the very jaws of its perils.

  Herman Melville

  Joy, Danger, Peril

  Herman Melville (2015). “Pierre or The Ambiguities: Works of Melville”, p.71, 谷月社

  8 Copy quote

• The Past is the textbook of tyrants; the Future is the Bible of the Free.

  Herman Melville

  Past, Tyrants, Textbooks

  Herman Melville (2016). “White Jacket”, p.161, Herman Melville

  6 Copy quote

• Time is made up of various ages; and each thinks its own a novelty.

  Herman Melville

  Thinking, Age, Generations

  Herman Melville (1855). “Mardi: And a Voyage Thither”, p.235

  4 Copy quote

• The easiest way of life is the best.

  Herman Melville

  Way, Life Is

  Herman Melville (2016). “Bartleby, The Scrivener”, p.3, Herman Melville

  4 Copy quote

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

  Herman Melville

  Nature, Travel, Home

  Herman Melville (1892). “Moby Dick”, p.57

  55 Copy quote

• Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges.

  Herman Melville

  Literature, Edges, Ragged

  Herman Melville (2009). “Billy Budd, Sailor and Selected Tales”, p.312, OUP Oxford

  9 Copy quote

• Ignorance is the parent of fear.

  Herman Melville

  Fear, Healing, Ignorance

  Herman Melville (2008). “Moby-Dick”, p.24, Velvet Element Books

  32 Copy quote

• Youth is the time when hearts are large.

  Herman Melville

  Heart, Youth

  Herman Melville (1991). “Selected Poems of Herman Melville”, p.50, Fordham Univ Press

  5 Copy quote

Page 1 of 22

← Prev

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Next →

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin