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"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever i find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet... I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me."
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"Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes."

"Nothing's so dainty sweet as lovely melancholy."

"In applying this subject to the melancholy event, which has deprived this Diocese of its venerable Bishop, we presume not to compare him with the blessed Apostle, of whom we have been speaking."

"The cello is such a melancholy instrument, such an isolated, miserable instrument."

"For the music to be over so soon. For the music to be over when it had just begun. That was really sad."

"Like them you are tall and taciturn, and you are sad, all at once, like a voyage."

"Do tears not yet spilledwait in small lakes?Or are they invisible riversthat run toward sadness?"

"Before the house-maid had lit the fire the next day, or the sun gained any power over the cold, gloomy morning in January, Marianne, only half dressed, was kneeling against one of the window-seats for the sake of all the little light she could command from it, and writing as fast as a continual flow of tears would permit her."
Explore more quotes by Herman Melville

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."

"Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity."

"There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself."

"Let us speak, though we show all our faults and weaknesses, - for it is a sign of strength to be weak, to know it, and out with it - not in a set way and ostentatiously, though, but incidentally and without premeditation."

"Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending."

"To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living."

"There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals."
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