[T]he sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness, and playing the part of dangerous abettor of world-wide ambitions.
Joseph Conrad · The Mirror of the Sea
As idle as a painted ship / Upon a painted ocean.
The Ancient Mariner · The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
Water Rat · The Wind in the Willows
I felt that there could be no turning back, and that I was engaging in an adventure the meaning of which I thoroughly understood.
Joshua Slocum · Sailing Alone Around the World
I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more—the feeling that I could last for ever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men…
Marlow · Youth: A Narrative
In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it.
Water Rat · The Wind in the Willows
O youth! The strength of it, the faith of it, the imagination of it!
Marlow · Youth: A Narrative
The acute pain of solitude experienced at first never returned. I had penetrated a mystery, and, by the way, I had sailed through a fog.
Joshua Slocum · Sailing Alone Around the World
The ultimate word is I LIKE. It lies beneath philosophy, and is twined about the heart of life.
Jack London · The Cruise of the Snark
Then leaving the Cape Verde Islands out of sight astern, I found myself once more sailing a lonely sea and in a solitude supreme all around.
Joshua Slocum · Sailing Alone Around the World
There is a witchery in the sea, its songs and stories, and in the mere sight of a ship, and the sailor's dress, especially to a young mind, which has done more to man navies, and fill merchantmen, than all the press-gangs of Europe.
Richard Henry Dana Jr. · Two Years Before the Mast
To young men contemplating a voyage I would say go.
Joshua Slocum · Sailing Alone Around the World
Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink.
The Ancient Mariner · The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; … then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.
Ishmael · Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.
Ishmael · Moby-Dick; or, The Whale