The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

As to the sea itself, love it you cannot. Why should you? I will never believe again the sea was ever loved by anyone whose life was married to it. It is the creation of omnipotence, which is not of humankind and understandable, and so the springs of its behavior are hidden.

The sea hath fish for every man.

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

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.

All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.

Seaward ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea that has turned my head.

Seafarers go to sleep in the evening not knowing whether they will find themselves at the bottom of the sea the next morning.

Take back your golden fiddles, and we’ll beat to open sea.

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

The 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.

The 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.

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.