Many, many steeples would have to be stacked one on top of another to reach from the bottom to the surface of the sea. It is down there that the sea folk live.
—Hans Christian Andersen, 1837Quotes
I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s way.
—John Paul Jones, 1778The life of a sailor is very unhealthy.
—Francis Galton, 1883The wonderful sea charmed me from the first.
—Joshua Slocum, 1900What will not attract a man’s stare at sea?—a gull, a turtle, a flying fish!
—Richard Burton, 1883He 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, 1846The 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, 1888All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.
—Book of Ecclesiastes, c. 250 BCHe who commands the sea has command of everything.
—Francis Bacon, c. 1600Seamen are the nearest to death and the furthest from God.
—Thomas Fuller, 1732Alone, alone, all, all alone, / Alone on a wide, wide sea!
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798I never even saw the use of the sea. Many a sad heart has it caused, and many a sick stomach has it occasioned! The boldest sailor climbs on board with a heavy soul and leaps on land with a light spirit.
—Benjamin Disraeli, 1827I’ve been bathing in the poem / Of star-infused and milky sea / Devouring the azure greens.
—Arthur Rimbaud, 1871