The western spirit is, or will yet be (for no other is, or can be) the true American one.
Herman MelvilleAll deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea, while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore.
Herman MelvilleWere this world an endless pain, and by sailing eastward we could forever reach new distances, and discover sights more sweet and strange than any Cyclades or Islands of King Solomon, then there were promise in the voyage.
Herman MelvilleTowards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale... from hell's heart I stab at thee.
Herman Melville