فينا جميعًا حفّار دخيل لا يكف عن العمل في منجمه. ولكن أنّى لنا أن ندري إلى أين يتجه النفق الذي يحفره مِن الإستماع إلى صوت فأسه المكتوم المتنقل أبدًا؟ - Herman Melville

fifty years ago did Nathan Swain kill fifteen whales between a sunrise and a sunset. And that harpoon — so like a corkscrew now — was flung

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.

What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural loving and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare?