The snotgreen sea. The scrotumtightening sea.
—James Joyce, 1922Quotes
Tomorrow we take to the mighty sea.
—Horace, 23 BCThe breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.
—Vladimir Nabokov, 1941He who travels by sea is nothing but a worm on a piece of wood, a trifle in the midst of a powerful creation. The waters play about with him at will, and no one but God can help him.
—Muhammad as-Saffar, 1846Seamen are the nearest to death and the furthest from God.
—Thomas Fuller, 1732The bathing was so delightful this morning, and Molly so pressing with me to enjoy myself, that I believe I stayed in rather too long, as since the middle of the day I have felt unreasonably tired. I shall be more careful another time, and shall not bathe tomorrow as I had before intended.
—Jane Austen, 1804The 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, 1888Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so shall you come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1838Never trust her at any time when the calm sea shows her false alluring smile.
—Lucretius, c. 60 BCWithout a decisive naval force, we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.
—George Washington, 1781The life of a sailor is very unhealthy.
—Francis Galton, 1883It is He who has subdued the ocean so that you may eat of its fresh fish and bring up from its depth ornaments to wear. Behold the ships plowing their course through it. All this, that you may seek His bounty and render thanks.
—The Qur’an, c. 625The legislator is like the navigator of a ship on the high seas. He can steer the vessel on which he sails, but he cannot alter its construction, raise the wind, or stop the waves from swelling beneath his feet.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835