In one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans.

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge.

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.

Dream tonight of peacock tails, Diamond fields and spouter whales. Ills are many, blessing few, But dreams tonight will shelter you.

Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that's more than either, the grief and sin of idleness.

Meditation and water are wedded for ever.

I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up.

War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.

If you don't receive love from the ones who are meant to love you, you will never stop looking for it.

Life is but a play of chance in the game of choice.

Piracy n: commerce without its folly-swaddles - just as God made it.

We have what we seek. It is there all the time and if we give it time it will make itself known to us.

Isn't it remarkable how everyone who knew [D.H.] Lawrence has felt compelled to write about him? Why, he's had more books written about him than any writer since Byron!

Love for me is comfort. I feel most loved and most capable of giving love when I am around people or in places that make me comfortable.

I am not interested in rules or conventions. Photography is not a sport.

In Hollywood, moviemaking used to be about escaping reality to go to the movies.

In a world of commoditized knowledge, the returns go to the companies who can produce non-standard knowledge.

People often ask me how I make things funny. I don't make things funny.