Port Quotes

To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

75 Copy quote
It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage.

Henry Ward Beecher

Inspirational, Success, Congratulations

Henry Ward Beecher, William Drysdale (1887). “Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit”

27 Copy quote

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A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.

Grace Hopper

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

1987 Address at Trinity College, Washington. Reported in Time, 22 Jun.

187 Copy quote

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A journey to the unknown shores needs a port, a ship, a wind; but more important than all of them: Courage; courage to leave the known for the unknown!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Journey, Wind, Important

11 Copy quote
Most people stand on the dock of life waiting for their ship to come in when deep down inside they know it has never left port.

Zig Ziglar

Inspirational, People, Waiting

40 Copy quote
Happiness always returns to port . . .

Duong Thu Huong

Return

6 Copy quote
If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him. Ignoranti quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est.

Seneca the Younger

Life, Men, Wind

16 Copy quote
The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Love, Inspirational, Life

60 Copy quote
To reach a port we must set sail

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Sailing, Nautical, Sailing And The Sea

12 Copy quote
Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Life, Ships, Sometimes

3 Copy quote
The ship is safest when it is in port, but that’s not what ships were built for.

Paulo Coelho

Life, Ships, Built

Paulo Coelho (2009). “The Pilgrimage”, p.15, Harper Collins

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If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable.

Seneca the Younger

Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

'Epistulae ad Lucilium' letter 71, sect. 3

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When you long for the port, it is time to leave the journey; when you long for the journey, it is time to leave the port!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Journey, Long, Time To Leave

6 Copy quote
If you don't know what port you are sailing to, no wind is favourable.

Seneca the Younger

Inspirational, Wind, Sailing

6 Copy quote
Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.

Iris Murdoch

Inspirational, Responsibility, Sea

Iris Murdoch (2001). “The Bell”, p.139, Penguin

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Visit the port of goodness often; if you can, cast your anchor over there!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Anchors, Goodness, Casts

11 Copy quote
A life without an objective is much like a ship at sea with no port in mind. It drifts with the waves or storms, or with the whim of the captain. They are tempted to ask, amidst the battles of life, "Is the struggle worth-while?" That attitude lessens the joy of living. They who say that there is no purpose in life are not unhappy, but become dangerous to themselves and others, for they have no safe guide for their actions. Indeed, life has not objective save physical satisfactions, it is empty and valueless.

John Andreas Widtsoe

Attitude, Struggle, Sea

13 Copy quote
If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.

Thomas Aquinas

Inspirational, Softball, Powerful

120 Copy quote
To reach a port, we must sail - sail, not tie at anchor - sail, not drift.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Inspirational, Life, Anchors

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (1941). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1938, Volume 7”, p.248, Best Books on

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It should be our endeavor to cultivate the peace and friendship of every nation . . . . Our interest will be to throw open the doors of commerce, and to knock off all its shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the vent to whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the same in theirs.

Thomas Jefferson

Doors, Giving, Perfect

Thomas Jefferson (1801). “Notes on the State of Virginia”, p.257

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The boat is safer anchored at the port; but that’s not the aim of boats.

Paulo Coelho

Life, Happiness, Inspiring

28 Copy quote
Ports are necessities, like postage stamps or soap, but they seldom seem to care what impressions they make.

Elizabeth Bishop

Sailing, Care, Soap

Elizabeth Bishop (2015). “Poems”, p.88, Macmillan

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It is our relation to circumstances that determine their influence over us. The same wind that blows one ship into port may blow another off shore.

Christian Nestell Bovee

Blow, Wind, May

7 Copy quote
Like the vital rudder of a ship, we have been provided a way to determine the direction we travel. The lighthouse of the Lord beckons to all as we sail the seas of life. Our home port is the celestial kingdom of God. Our purpose is to steer an undeviating course in that direction. A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder—never likely to reach home port. To us comes the signal: Chart your course, set your sail, position your rudder, and proceed.

Thomas S. Monson

Home, Men, Sea

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Wild Nights – Wild Nights! Were I with thee Wild Nights should be Our luxury! Futile – the winds – To a heart in port – Done with the compass – Done with the chart! Rowing in Eden – Ah, the sea! Might I moor – Tonight – In thee!

Emily Dickinson

Life, Heart, Night

Emily Dickinson, Helen Vendler (2010). “Dickinson”, p.93, Harvard University Press

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