The wonderful sea charmed me from the first.
—Joshua Slocum, 1900Quotes
He that commands the sea is at great liberty and may take as much and as little of the war as he will.
—Francis Bacon, c. 1600I 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 sea receives us in a proper way only when we are without clothes.
—Pliny the Elder, 77Why is a ship under sail more poetical than a hog in a high wind? The hog is all nature, the ship is all art.
—Lord Byron, 1821Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
—Zora Neale Hurston, 1937He who commands the sea has command of everything.
—Francis Bacon, c. 1600All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.
—Book of Ecclesiastes, c. 250 BCI am ill every time it blows hard, and nothing but my enthusiastic love for the profession keeps me one hour at sea.
—Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1804You never enjoy the world aright, till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars.
—Thomas Traherne, c. 1670I’ve been bathing in the poem / Of star-infused and milky sea / Devouring the azure greens.
—Arthur Rimbaud, 1871Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 30 BCSeafarers go to sleep in the evening not knowing whether they will find themselves at the bottom of the sea the next morning.
—Jean de Joinville, c. 1305