Of the quaking recruit, three pitched battles make a grim grenadier; and he who shrank from the muzzle of a cannon, is now ready to yield his mustache for a sponge.
Herman MelvilleMuch of a man's character will be found betokened in his backbone. I would rather feel your spine than your skull, whoever you are. A thin joist of a spine never yet upheld a full and noble soul.
Herman MelvilleSo long as a man-of-war exists, it must ever remain a picture of much that is tyrannical and repelling in human nature.
Herman Melville