Sailing Quotes - Page 2

• ...surely these victims of the sea...had rushed willingly down the hills to the water, only to find themselves caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who should judge whether they were there for the wrong reason?

  John Rousmaniere

  Sea, Water, Judging

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• If the Spray discovered no continents on her voyage, it may be that there were no more continents to be discovered. She did not seek new worlds, or sail to pow-wow about the dangers of the sea.

  Joshua Slocum

  Inspirational, Funny, Journey

  Joshua Slocum (1985). “The Voyages of Joshua Slocum”, p.372, Sheridan House, Inc.

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• Men go back to the mountains, as they go back to sailing ships at sea, because in the mountains and on the sea they must face up.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Inspirational, Funny, Men

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• We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (2010). “The Later Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1843-1871”, p.340, University of Georgia Press

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• The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.

  Vincent Van Gogh

  Life, Leadership, Determination

  89 Copy quote

• There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.

  Kenneth Grahame

  Somewhere Else, Nautical, Ems

  Kenneth Grahame (1988). “My Dearest Mouse: 'The Wind in the Willows' Letters”, Viking Press

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• O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done.

  Walt Whitman

  Inspirational, Sad, Death

  "O Captain! My Captain!" l. 1 (1871)

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• If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends.

  Enoch Powell

  Travel, Mean, Journey

  77 Copy quote

• Wisdom sails with wind and time.

  John Florio

  Wind, Sail

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• On life's vast ocean diversely we sail. Reasons the card, but passion the gale.

  Alexander Pope

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

  Alexander Pope (1825). “The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope: With a Sketch of the Author's Life”, p.198

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• All I ask is a tall ship and a star to sail her by.

  John Masefield

  Stars, Sea, Voyages

  John Masefield, “Sea Fever”

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• Spirits rise as the sails fill...
  Gone is the sea's glassy surface, and with it the terrible glare.
  Close the hatches and ports!
  We're sailing again!

  Jim Moore

  Sea, Nautical, Gone

  Jim Moore (1996). “By Way of the Wind”, p.105, Sheridan House, Inc.

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• If we are strong, and have faith in life and its richness of surprises, and hold the rudder steadily in our hands. I am sure we will sail into quiet and pleasant waters for our old age.

  Freya Stark

  Inspirational, Funny, Faith

  Freya Stark (1974). “The Open Door, 1930-35”

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• A small craft in an ocean is, or should be, a benevolent dictatorship.

  Tristan Jones

  Ocean, Nautical, Crafts

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• Being hove to in a long gale is the most boring way of being terrified I know.

  Donald Hamilton

  Long, Nautical, Way

  Donald Hamilton (1980). “Cruises with Kathleen”, David McKay Company

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• There is little man has made that approaches anything in nature, but a sailing ship does. There is not much man has made that calls to all the best in him, but a sailing ship does.

  Alan Villiers

  Men, Sea, Doe

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• I can remain on shore, paralyzed with fear,
  or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze.

  Richard Bode

  Nautical, Dip, Breeze

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• Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.

  Herman Melville

  Depression, Strong, Hands

  Herman Melville (2002). “Moby-Dick: A Picture Voyage : an Abridged and Illustrated Edition of the Original Classic”, p.13, Spinner Publications

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• No one is fit to judge a book until he has rounded Cape Horn in a sailing vessel, until he has bumped into two or three icebergs, until he has been lost in the sands of the desert, until he has spent a few years in the House of the Dead.

  Van Wyck Brooks

  Inspirational, Funny, Book

  Van Wyck Brooks (1958). “From a writer's notebook”

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• To the question, "When were your spirits at the lowest ebb?" the obvious answer seemed to be, "When the gin gave out."

  Francis Chichester

  Nautical, Answers, Spirit

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• Off Cape Horn there are but two kinds of weather, neither one of them a pleasant kind.

  John Masefield

  Weather, Two, Capes

  "A Tarpaulin Muster".

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• There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing

  Ranulph Fiennes

  Running, Adventure, Weather

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• Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast.

  William Penn

  Inspirational, Funny, Judgment

  Benjamin Franklin, William Penn (2012). “Franklin's Way to Wealth and Penn's Maxims”, p.38, Courier Corporation

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• I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea.

  Alain Gerbault

  Adventure, Air, Sea

  394 Copy quote

• The chance for mistakes is about equal to the number of crew squared.

  Ted Turner

  Mistake, Numbers, Nautical

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