Quotes by Herman Melville

“Woe to him who seeks to please rather than appall.”

“The poor man wants many things; the covetous man, all.”

“He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.”

“The eyes are the gateway to the soul.”

“A thing may be incredible and still be true; sometimes it is incredible because it is true.”

“There's magic in the water that draws all men away form the land, that leads them over hills, down creeks and streams and rivers to the sea.”

“Many sensible things banished from high life find an asylum among the mob.”

“When among wild beasts, if they menace you, be a wild beast.”

“Let us speak, though we show all our faults and weaknesses, - for it is a sign of strength to be weak, to know it, and out with it - not in a set way and ostentatiously, though, but incidentally and without premeditation.”

“Time is made up of various ages; and each thinks its own a novelty.”

“Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.”

“If you are poor, avoid wine as a costly luxury; if you are rich, shun it as a fatal indulgence. Stick to plain water.”