Moby Dick Quotes

I don't feel like using expounding on these quotes, but I wanted to mention them because they were brilliantly written and/or thought provoking.

“yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls;—though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will.”

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“see how elastic our stiff prejudices grow when love once comes to bend them.”

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“But when that smoking chowder came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh, sweet friends! hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuit, and salted pork cut up into little flakes; the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt.”

So explicit!

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“I will have no man in my boat," said Starbuck, "who is not afraid of a whale." By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.”

Favorite in the whole book.

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“Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!”

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“What I've dared, I've willed; and what I've willed, I'll do! They think me mad—Starbuck does; but I'm demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness that's only calm to comprehend itself! The prophecy was that I should be dismembered; and—Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophesy that I will dismember my dismemberer. Now, then, be the prophet and the fulfiller one. That's more than ye, ye great gods, ever were. I laugh and hoot at ye, ye cricket-players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and blinded Bendigoes! I will not say as schoolboys do to bullies—Take some one of your own size; don't pommel ME! No, ye've knocked me down, and I am up again; but YE have run and hidden. Come forth from behind your cotton bags! I have no long gun to reach ye. Come, Ahab's compliments to ye; come and see if ye can swerve me. Swerve me? ye cannot swerve me, else ye swerve yourselves! man has ye there. Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents[…]”

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“Ha! ha! ha! ha! hem! clear my throat!—I've been thinking over it ever since, and that ha, ha's the final consequence. Why so? Because a laugh's the wisest, easiest answer to all that's queer; and come what will, one comfort's always left—that unfailing comfort is, it's all predestinated.”

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“TASHTEGO. (QUIETLY SMOKING)

That's a white man; he calls that fun: humph! I save my sweat.”

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“But what it was that inscrutable Ahab said to that tiger-yellow crew of his—these were words best omitted here; for you live under the blessed light of the evangelical land. Only the infidel sharks in the audacious seas may give ear to such words, when, with tornado brow, and eyes of red murder, and foam-glued lips, Ahab leaped after his prey.”

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“There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.”

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“Intolerably striding along the deck, the mate commanded him to get a broom and sweep down the planks, and also a shovel, and remove some offensive matters consequent upon allowing a pig to run at large.”

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“All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in the whale-boat, you would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than though seated before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side.”

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“and were it not that the body is now completely separated from it, with a lantern we might descend into the great Kentucky Mammoth Cave of his stomach.”

Shout out to Kentucky!

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“Midwifery should be taught in the same course with fencing and boxing, riding and 

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“I try all things; I achieve what I can."

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“Stick to the boat, Pip, or by the Lord, I won't pick you up if you jump; mind that. We can't afford to lose whales by the likes of you; a whale would sell for thirty times what you would, Pip, in Alabama. Bear that in mind, and don't jump any more." Hereby perhaps Stubb indirectly hinted, that though man loved his fellow, yet man is a money-making animal, which propensity too often interferes with his benevolence.”

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“They had dumplings too; small, but substantial, symmetrically globular, and indestructible dumplings. I fancied that you could feel them, and roll them about in you after they were swallowed. If you stooped over too far forward, you risked their pitching out of you like billiard-balls.”

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“Um, um, um. Stop that thunder! Plenty too much thunder up here. What's the use of thunder? Um, um, um. We don't want thunder; we want rum; give us a glass of rum. Um, um, um!”

I like rum :)

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“Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I.”

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“Ah! how they still strove through that infinite blueness to seek out the thing that might destroy them!”

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“Flask towards his flukes; dashed them together like two rolling husks on a surf-beaten beach, and then, diving down into the sea, disappeared in a boiling maelstrom, in which, for a space, the odorous cedar chips of the wrecks danced round and round, like the grated nutmeg in a swiftly stirred bowl of punch.”

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“Believe ye, men, in the things called omens? Then laugh aloud, and cry encore! For ere they drown, drowning things will twice rise to the surface; then rise again, to sink for evermore,"

I Survived Reading Moby Dick (my dad made me do it)

So I got a fancy job which means I won't be able to finish Huckleberry Finn before the beginning of the semester. More on the fancy job in a future blog post.

I decided to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because I saw the play when I was a young teenager (13ish) in Madisonville, KY. They had great plays and I really would love to see another one soon now that I think about it. As per usual, I have copied some of the lines in the story that made me ponder, reread, and such. 

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Here's the first one:

“Ef you's got hairy arms en a hairy breas', it's a sign dat you's a-gwyne to be rich”

Me: Now I've been on a few dates and they have been disheartening and depressing. I'm not sure how people actually do this whole dating thing.  Either I really suck at it or dating really really really sucks as a philosophical entity.  So in order to get better at dating, I ask people for advice so that I don't get stuck with the Pierre's of this world. Ugh.

This idea of hairy arms being positively correlated to wealth is a new one to me! I remember reading in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that corns on the women's feet is a dating and romance no-no (as if women want to date a man with corns, but whatever..stupid male dominated society!) I might need to add this to my list of characteristics. Must have hairy arms.

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Next line:

“Pap always said, take a chicken when you get a chance, because if you don't want him yourself you can easy find somebody that does, and a good deed ain't ever forgot”

I like this way of sharing. Take things that you may not need and pass them on to someone else. Now that I live in a big city and the lines of haves and have nots are rather delineated especially in my neighborhood and surrounding areas, I try to think of others' plights. Now I'm super broke, but s sandwich is pretty cheap to give away even when I'm strapped for cash. 

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I'm gonna start called me everyone a "rapscallion." Thanks Mr. Melville.

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“Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head for a nigger.”

Although nobody has called me a nig**r before, I have gotten this sentiment on infinitesimal number of times, and each time I roll my eyes. I get the "you're so smart and articulate for a Black person." Or the "I've never heard a Black person speak like y before." Really -_-

Yes, I'm educated and yes I'm young and yes I'm Black. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm honored to have lived the journey I've endured and enjoyed (depends on the season). I'm blessed and grateful. However, I don't like it when people think that no other a Black person has endured and enjoyed a similar journey. I am not the only a black scholar and I'm not the only one who can speak English the same way you can. Get over it. And do your research. I pale in comparison to my intellectual idols and strive to be able to speak eloquently and didactically like others.  Don't come up to me and be so shocked that I am who I am and have experienced what I have experienced. Learn something from me because I'm probably taking the time and energy to learn something from you.

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This is what I find most bothersome about this book and society as a whole. I took a break from read Huck Finn to read Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Twain's novel had two dominant dialects. One for the poor white man and one for the Enslaved Black man. Melville's book had New England ship dialect. I'm sure there is an official name for it, but I'm not sure what it is. All three dialects are deplorable and littered with cultural nuances and copious misspeaks when considering a Standard English to be standard by which we all should speak.

What bothers me so deeply is that the New English dialect and the poor White man's dialect are both given pity and considered to be historically representative and culturally significant, whereas the Black man's dialect is considered low, dirty, horribly uneducated, and should be improved. Why is that?

In reading "Talkin' and Testifyin': The Language of Black America," the author Geneva Smitherman made a profound statement when she said that there IS no standard dialect of English. All of us English speakers speak with dalect. This is true of all languages. In my mind, I see this as a bell curve where the most accepted and spoken English is in the middle and the plus send minus standard deviations from it are where the outliers lay. Based on what I see in education, politics, and the world in general (if one can generalize the world) is that the White man's. English is in the middle and the outliers are where we put the people of color.  We put immigrant speakers, Spanglish, Ebonics, and combinations of such to the outskirts and tell people that if they don't speak like "us," then we will take away your privilege, opportunities, and voice. 

Disgusting.

I was taught the "King's English" and can speak it mellifluously upon being called. However, when doing research and developing relationships across the gamut, I realized the importance and necessity of code switching and enjoy it ever so much. Then, when I read Talkin' and Testifyin', I learned of the beauty, color, depth, passion, and power that speaking with dialect--Black dialect--can have. Sometimes a story can't be told "right" unless you drop some syntax and let the point and rhythm of the story rather than the rules of speech be one's guide.  It also gave me a key and a guide into the heart of Black consciousness that I am so grateful to have in my pocket. Words are the lifeblood of culture.

Given my upbringing and schooling, I, being Black, female, earner of fancy degrees, and lover of the spoken word and of people, know and exemplify the importance of code switching. Putting on my Master's in Organizational Communication hat, code switching is when one moves from one "code" or speech pattern with its nuances, preferences, historical ramifications, and patterns to another. Codes are like cultures where groups of people will identify best with one or more. So there's a softball code and culture, hockey code and culture, engineering code and culture, academic code and culture, 8-year-old code and culture, old people code and culture, rich people code and culture, average Joe of Oklahoma code and culture,... Learning to switch from one to another takes time. I observe, listen intently, take mental notes of trends, watch for anomalies, and practice privately before trying publicly. People greatly appreciate when you speak their "code" with genuine intentions. When s person switches, he or she is accepted more freely and is given more intimate knowledge of the culture because one has taken time to learn and appreciate differences. Not always, but mostly. Groups of people generally want y to join them in their journey and gain a new perspective or point of view. What one assumes to be the only way to look at things just because that is how you've been taught may or may not be true of everyone. Getting out of your code and culture and trying someone else's on for size makes you a more compassionate and well rounded person.

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Well that's it for Moby Dick. I liked it. It was entirely too long. If you're only wanting to learn the lessons from the novel, I'd read the short story "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck. However, you can't replicate the beautiful prose albeit insanely verbose.

WAIT!! One more thing, I was talking to my dad and he told me that Melville died a pauper and never saw the impact and fame of his novel. That made me think about the work that I do. Do I do stuff so that I will get recognition? if I never saw the impact, would I work just as hard? I've thought about this time and again and my answer is not one I'm too proud of. Our lives are rocks thrown into lakes and vast bodies of water. Sometimes, yes, we feel like we are drowning in our responsibilities, expectations, and personal goals and dreams. We have to remember the BIG PICTURE. Our "impact ripples" last a really long time--debatably forever. So every time I feel like I've failed at life, I have the assurance that my impact supersedes my effort. How encouraging. And scary.

Now I'm done.

JLP