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“For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand ones, true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the draught of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
“Were this world an endless plain, and by sailing eastward we could for ever
reach new distances, and discover sights more sweet and strange than any Cyclades or Islands of King Solomon, then there were promise in the voyage. But in
pursuit of those far mysteries we dream of, or in tormented chase of that demon
phantom that, some time or other, swims before all human hearts; while chasing
such over this round globe, they either lead us on in barren mazes or midway leave
us whelmed”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
reach new distances, and discover sights more sweet and strange than any Cyclades or Islands of King Solomon, then there were promise in the voyage. But in
pursuit of those far mysteries we dream of, or in tormented chase of that demon
phantom that, some time or other, swims before all human hearts; while chasing
such over this round globe, they either lead us on in barren mazes or midway leave
us whelmed”
― Moby-Dick or, The Whale
“It is worse; for you cannot sit motionless in the heart ofthese perils, because the boat is rocking like a cradle, and you are pitched one wayand the other, without the slightest warning; and only by a certain self-adjusting
buoyancy and simultaneousness of volition and aion, can you escape being made
a Mazeppa of, and run away with where the all-seeing sun himself could never
pierce you out.
Again: as the profound calm which only apparently precedes and prophesies
of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; for, indeed, the calm
is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm; and contains it in itself, as the
seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion; so
the graceful repose of the line, as it silently serpentines about the oarsmen before
being brought into aual play—this is a thing which carries more of true terror
than any other aspe of this dangerous affair. But why say more? All men live
enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is
only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent,
subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in
the whale-boat, you would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than though
seated before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side”
― Moby Dick
buoyancy and simultaneousness of volition and aion, can you escape being made
a Mazeppa of, and run away with where the all-seeing sun himself could never
pierce you out.
Again: as the profound calm which only apparently precedes and prophesies
of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; for, indeed, the calm
is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm; and contains it in itself, as the
seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion; so
the graceful repose of the line, as it silently serpentines about the oarsmen before
being brought into aual play—this is a thing which carries more of true terror
than any other aspe of this dangerous affair. But why say more? All men live
enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is
only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent,
subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in
the whale-boat, you would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than though
seated before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side”
― Moby Dick
John Sebastian’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at John Sebastian’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
545 books
|
29 friends
231 books
|
11 friends
228 books
|
39 friends
525 books
|
331 friends
16 books
|
4 friends
Polls voted on by John Sebastian
Lists liked by John Sebastian
