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What we take to be our strongest tower of delight, only stands at the caprice of the minutest event — the falling of a leaf, the hearing of a voice, or the receipt of one little bit of paper scratched over with a few small characters by a sharpened feather.

— Herman Melville Pierre; or, The Ambiguities (1852)

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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)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Herman Melville (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.