[T]here is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men. - Herman Melville

What could be more full of meaning? — for the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest come in its rear; the pulpit leads the world.

Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.