The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides.

Ah, monsieur, to live in the bosom of the sea! Only there can independence be found! There I recognize no master! There I am free!

When I returned to partial life my face was wet with tears. How long that state of insensibility had lasted I cannot say. I had no means now of taking account of time. Never was solitude equal to this, never had any living being been so utterly forsaken.

Until I discover the meaning of this sentence, I will neither eat nor sleep. "My dear uncle-" I began. "Nor you either," he added.

Aures habent et non audient` - `They have ears but hear not

I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.

In presence of Nature's grand convulsions man is powerless.