The ocean has mystified humans since the dawn of time. Many have battled with the sea to explore new land or to discover an additional food source. Many have lost their lives in that struggle. It’s no wonder many writers have used the sea as a focal point for their work. Even if the narrative does not center on the ocean, its powerful imagery is still used to describe human emotions- the ebb and flow of life’s victories and challenges. Here is a list of the most inspirational and eloquent maritime quotes…
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. — Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — Unknown (Mark Twain often receives credit for this quote)
To reach a port, we must sail – sail, not tie at anchor – sail, not drift. — Franklin D. Roosevelt (National broadcast, 1938)
Any fool can carry on, but a wise man knows how to shorten sail in time. — Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness
What matters is what happens next. — Ian McGuire, The North Water
A soft fall rain slips down through the trees and the smell of ocean is so strong that it can almost be licked off the air. — Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. — Earnest Hemingway, Old Man and the Sea
As everyone knows, meditation and water are wedded forever.- Herman Melville, Moby Dick
I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came. – John F. Kennedy, 1962 America’s Cup Crew Dinner
