Was the crew well? Was I not? I had profited in many ways by the voyage. I had even gained flesh, and actually weighed a pound more than when I sailed from Boston.

To young men contemplating a voyage I would say go.

But where, after all, would be the poetry of the sea were there no wild waves?

To know the laws that govern the winds, and to know that you know them, will give you an easy mind on your voyage round the world; otherwise you may tremble at the appearance of every cloud.

The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.

To be taken into account were some years of schooling, where I studied with diligence Neptune's laws, and these laws I tried to obey when I sailed overseas; it was worth the while.

Anyhow, a philosophical turn of thought now was not amiss, else one's patience would have given out almost at the harbour entrance. The term of her probation was eight days.

...as the day wore on I watched the birds all flying in one direction, and said, Land lies there.

I once knew a writer who, after saying beautiful things about the sea, passed through a Pacific hurricane, and he became a changed man.

As for myself, the wonderful sea charmed me from the first.

If the Spray discovered no continents on her voyage, it may be that there were no more continents to be discovered. She did not seek new worlds, or sail to pow-wow about the dangers of the sea.

If it [talent] isn’t strong enough to take the gaff of real training, then it’s not worth much.

It might be a little bit crazy, even. Like, for real crazy. Not just 'oh isn't that charming and endearing' crazy but 'wow that might be a deep-seated psychological issue' crazy.

Easy, dushka, " he mumured. "You're safe.

What is pride? A rocket that emulates the stars.

In the survival of favoured individuals and races, during the constantly-recurring struggle for existence, we see a powerful and ever-acting form of selection.

The Chinese foreign ministry has said more than once that I am a free person. Did I do anything wrong by leaving my home?

Winners bring reality up to their vision. Losers bring their vision down to reality.

I'm not saying that people should not divorce, but at the rate at which it happens here is sick. The kids, they suffer. I don't care what anyone says.

Good wine, well drunk, can lend majesty to the human spirit.

The past cannot remember the past. The future can't generate the future. The cutting edge of the instant right here and now is always nothing less than the totality of everything there is.