Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 30 BCQuotes
It 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. 625I 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, 1827The wonderful sea charmed me from the first.
—Joshua Slocum, 1900Seamen are the nearest to death and the furthest from God.
—Thomas Fuller, 1732The snotgreen sea. The scrotumtightening sea.
—James Joyce, 1922I’ve been bathing in the poem / Of star-infused and milky sea / Devouring the azure greens.
—Arthur Rimbaud, 1871The sea hath fish for every man.
—William Camden, 1605Ocean. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man—who has no gills.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Seaward ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea that has turned my head.
—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.
—Book of Ecclesiastes, c. 250 BCThe power which the sea requires in the sailor makes a man of him very fast, and the change of shores and population clears his head of much nonsense of his wigwam.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1870