Herman Melville's quotes and books

About Herman Melville

He wrote pennedMoby-Dick, the great American novel about one man's epic obsession with a white whale. Though overlooked in his time, his masterpiece is now a towering monument of literature, exploring God, nature, and the human struggle.

Quotes (24)

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.

Herman Melville 14

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

Herman Melville 15

To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.

Herman Melville 17

Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.

Herman Melville 15

Truth

Friendship at first sight, like love at first sight, is said to be the only truth.

Herman Melville 11

In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers.

Herman Melville 21

There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself.

Herman Melville 13

He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had...

Herman Melville 11

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Robert Louis Stevenson

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