Archive

Quotes

You never enjoy the world aright, till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars.

—Thomas Traherne, c. 1670

And to our age’s drowsy blood / Still shouts the inspiring sea.

—James Russell Lowell, 1848

The Mediterranean has the colors of a mackerel, changeable I mean. You don’t always know if it is green or violet—you can’t even say it’s blue, because the next moment the changing light has taken on a tinge of pink or gray.

—Vincent van Gogh, 1888

As to the sea itself, love it you cannot. Why should you? I will never believe again the sea was ever loved by anyone whose life was married to it. It is the creation of omnipotence, which is not of humankind and understandable, and so the springs of its behavior are hidden.

—H.M. Tomlinson, 1912

Seaward ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea that has turned my head.

—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883

The sea hath no king but God alone.

—Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1881

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.

—Zora Neale Hurston, 1937

We are as near to heaven by sea as by land!

—Humphrey Gilbert, 1583

The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1870

The sole business of a seaman onshore who has to go to sea again is to take as much pleasure as he can.

—Leigh Hunt, 1820

In all the ancient states and empires, those who had the shipping, had the wealth.

—William Petty, 1690

Take back your golden fiddles, and we’ll beat to open sea.

—Rudyard Kipling, 1892

The wonderful sea charmed me from the first.

—Joshua Slocum, 1900