But the might-have-been is but boggy ground to build upon. ✨ Herman Me…

Herman Melville
214 citations
But the might-have-been is but boggy ground to build upon. ✨ Herman Melville (2009). Billy Budd and Other Tales, p.27, Penguin
Hope
19

More Author Quotes

In our own hearts, we mold the whole world's hereafters; and in our own hearts we fashion our own gods. ✨ Herman Melville (1850). White-jacket; Or, The World in the Man-of-war, p.374
It is impossible to talk or to write without apparently throwing oneself helplessly open. ✨ Herman Melville (2015). Pierre or The Ambiguities: Works of Melville, p.254, 谷月社
Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth. ✨ Herman Melville (2016). Moby-Dick: Or, the Whale, p.129, Cosimo, Inc.
However baby man may brag of his science and skill, and however much, in a flattering future, that science and skill may augment; yet for ever and for ever, to the crack of doom, the sea will insult … ▶
Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure..... Consider all thi … ▶

But the might-have-been is but boggy ground to build upon. ✨ Herman Melville (2009). Billy Budd and Other Tales, p.27, Penguin

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes