In bas-relief he late has shown
A horrible show, agreed—
Megalosaurus, iguanodon,
Palaeotherium Glypthaecon,
A Barnum-show raree
— Herman Melville
Share this quote
Another quote →
More quotes by Herman Melville
Instinct and study; love and hate;
Audacity — reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob’s mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel — Art.
Timoleon (1891)
Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like death.
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851)
In armies, navies, cities, or families, in nature herself, nothing more relaxes good order than misery.
But I shall follow the endless, winding way, — the flowing river in the cave of man; careless whither I be led, reckless where I land.
Pierre; or, The Ambiguities (1852)
We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people — the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world.
White-Jacket (1850)
All Herman Melville quotes →