Books and the sea, I discovered, had more

than a little in common; both were distilled

of silence and solitude.

—STERLING HAYDEN, Wanderer.

jerky people on the street

i have not thought myself

one of you for a long time

—TOM RAWORTH

A conspiracy wipes out all the titles conferred by social caprice. In those conditions, a man springs at once to the rank which his manner of facing death assigns to him. The mind loses some of its authority. …

—STENDHAL

There is something in a treasure that fastens upon a man’s mind. He will pray and blaspheme and still persevere, and will curse the day he ever heard of it, and will let his last hour come upon him unawares, and still believing that he missed it only by a foot. He will see it again every time he closes his eyes. He will never forget it till he is dead—and even then—Doctor, did you ever hear of the miserable gringos on Azuera, that cannot die? Ha! Ha! Sailors like myself. There is no getting away from a treasure that once fastens upon your mind.

—JOSEPH CONRAD, Nostromo

Lonely and far a white sail soars . …

Beneath the azure current churns,

Above the golden sunlight glows;

Yet for a storm the sail still yearns—

As though in stores one found repose . …

—MIHAEL LERMONTOV

There remained the sea, which is free to all, and particularly alluring to those who feel themselves at war with humanity.

—RAFAEL SABATINI, Captain Blood.