The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails whereon my soul is grooved to run
Herman MelvilleWhatever has made, or does make, or may make music, should be held sacred as the golden bridle-bit of the Shah of Persia's horse,and the golden hammer, with which his hoofs are shod.
Herman MelvilleWhy did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.
Herman MelvilleOut of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs. So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters.
Herman Melville