...that one most perilous and long voyage ended, only begins a second; and a second ended, only begins a third, and so on, for ever and for aye. Such is the endlessness, yea, the intolerableness of all earthly effort.

It is upon record, that three centuries ago the tongue of the Right Whale was esteemed a great delicacy in France, and commanded large prices there.

There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear - the city of London and the South Seas.

Charity, like poetry, should be cultivated, if only for its being graceful.

Let us waive that agitated national topic, as to whether such multitudes of foreign poor should be landed on our American shores;let us waive it, with the one only thought, that if they can get here, they have God's right to come.

The dinner-hour is the summer of the day: full of sunshine, I grant; but not like the mellow autumn of supper.

Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.