And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale on both sides of land, and over all sides of earth, till he spouts black blood and rolls fin out.

Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

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More information about this quote

Topic

Obsession Hunting Whales Charismatic megafauna Animals

Author

Herman Melville

Source

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. London: Richard Bentley/New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, ch. 36.

Current Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick or, The Whale. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 36.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Herman Melville about obsession: “And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale…”
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A quote by Herman Melville about obsession: “And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale…”
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A quote by Herman Melville about obsession: “And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale…”
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Another quote from the 1850s

If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

More information about this quote
Topic
Activism Political progress Social progress Progress
Speaker
Frederick Douglass
Source
West India Emancipation
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1857 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "West India Emancipation." 3 Aug. 1857, Canandaigua, NY, USA.