The 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.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

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

I 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.

I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.

Seamen are the nearest to death and the furthest from God.

What will not attract a man’s stare at sea?—a gull, a turtle, a flying fish!

Why is a ship under sail more poetical than a hog in a high wind? The hog is all nature, the ship is all art.

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

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

But look, our seas are what we make of them, full of fish or not, opaque or transparent, red or black, high or smooth, narrow or bankless—and we are ourselves sea, sand, coral, seaweed, beaches, tides, swimmers, children, waves.

The sea receives us in a proper way only when we are without clothes.

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