Ocean Quotations

Written by tmarch on July 31st, 2008

Choose one of the following quotations and write a comment explaining what it means to you.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It’s always our self we find in the sea.
~e.e. cummings

The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper; I cannot quite make it out.  ~Annie Dillard

The true peace of God begins at any spot a thousand miles from the nearest land.  ~Joseph Conrad

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.  ~Isak Dinesen

Most of us, I suppose, are a little nervous of the sea.  No matter what its smiles may be, we doubt its friendship.  ~H.M. Tomlinson

The only cure for seasickness is to sit on the shady side of an old brick church in the country.  ~Author Unknown

Ocean:  A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.  ~Ambrose Bierce

The sea has never been friendly to man.  At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.  ~Joseph Conrad

Praise the sea; on shore remain.  ~John Florio

The great sea makes one a great sceptic.  ~Richard Jefferies

And thou, vast ocean! on whose awful face
Time’s iron feet can print no ruin-trace.
~Robert Montgomery, The Omnipresence of the Deity

Why do we love the sea?  It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.  ~Robert Henri

I hate to be near the sea, and to hear it raging and roaring like a wild beast in its den.  It puts me in mind of the everlasting efforts of the human mind, struggling to be free and ending just where it began.  ~William Hazlitt

There is nothing so desperately monotonous as the sea, and I no longer wonder at the cruelty of pirates.  ~James Russell Lowell

He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea.  ~George Herbert

10 Comments so far ↓

  1. Aug
    13
    8:44
    PM
    Tim B

    I think the quote: “The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.” ~Isak Dinesen is particularly good because it works in multiple ways. The quote is clever in that sweat, tears and the sea all contain salt, this links the three together. It is also true that hardwork, grief and relaxation can make us better people. This is assuming that Dinesan means the sea as relaxing, he might mean it as a source of recreation, a job or a hobby.

  2. Aug
    17
    10:26
    AM
    alexiosa

    “He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea.” ~George Herbert

    To me this quote is saying that when you go to sea you shall prey for your life. By preying for your life you are protecting yourself from dangers e.g. you boat sinking, washing up on a deserted island or even being lost at sea. To me this quote also means that if you want to learn to prey go to sea, meaning that you would be preying for your life.

    George Herbert uses this quote to describe the sea as rough and deathly

  3. Aug
    17
    10:33
    AM
    Zach Stanford

    ‘Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.’ ~Ambrose Bierce.

    This is a meaningful quote. Christians believe that ‘God’ created the world for men to roam. Yet it’s pretty ironic that 2/3 of it is uninhabitable for man. There are probably more creatures living in the sea than people on the land. We try to conquer the sea with ships, subs and diving equipment but we can survive they for very long with out going back to land sometime.

  4. Aug
    17
    11:20
    AM
    Elli K Byrne

    “The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.” ~Isak Dinesen

    I think this quote is cleverly written. It makes me realise how much salt water relates to human emotions and activities. That sweat, tears and the sea are all connected. It states that “ the cure for anything is salt water”, to me this implies that sweat is the cure for heat, which is the outcome of hard work and determination. Tears are the cure for pain, which is caused by other beings in emotional of physical ways. Sea isn’t really the cure to anything but it does impact on human lives and activities. I guess it is the cure for hunger and fun. You can catch food, that lives in the sea and u can have fun in the strange water.

  5. Aug
    17
    1:48
    PM
    Nicholas Conomos

    I think the quote “Praise the sea; on shore remain.” ~John Florio
    mmeans that we should respect the ocean, its beauty and power and wonders it holds, however that it can also be a dangerous place and that we should remain on shore and view it from there away from harm that it can cause like storms and rough seas.

  6. Aug
    17
    1:49
    PM
    Aiyana Levin

    “The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.” ~Joseph Conrad

    To me this quote is atrue statement of the personality of the sea.
    The sea has never been friendly to man, always cruel and unpredictable. It is to me “the accomplice of human restlessness.”

  7. Aug
    17
    6:38
    PM
    HaRrY h

    “I hate to be near the sea, and to hear it raging and roaring like a wild beast in its den. It puts me in mind of the everlasting efforts of the human mind, struggling to be free and ending just where it began.” ~William Hazlitt

    This quote suggests that Hazlitt doesn’t like to be near the sea because it reminds him of the constant struggle of the mind to be free.

    People try to clear (free) their minds but as soon as they have something always comes into their mind, ending up just where they started. The mind is like the sea because it is constantly turning over thought and ideas. It also suggests the water cycle because water gets evaporated then falls as rain and flows back into the sea via rivers and creeks, ending back where it started.
    I think “like a wild beast in its den” means our mind is trapped in our head unable to be free.

  8. Aug
    17
    7:03
    PM
    AlisterM

    Praise the sea; on shore remain. ~John Florio

    I think that this quote means that people should repect the sea and never underestimate its sheer power of destruction. It also says to me that you should never turn your back to the sea as it is an unpredictable force of nature. All in all this quote says that if you stay on shore you will never be in danger from the sea.

  9. Aug
    17
    7:21
    PM
    Tiff Allen

    ‘For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
    It’s always our self we find in the sea.’
    ~e.e. cummings

    I think this quote is very meaningful and well phrased.
    It tells us that as we go through life, we sometimes loose things that are special to us. Though some may give up hope, others will go on. When I think of something as powerful and calm as the sea, I feel peaceful and free. This quote tells me that as we look out at the sea we each interpret differently the strength, power and vulnerability that we feel. It gives us a chance to think and to find who we truly are and where we belong.

  10. Aug
    18
    1:35
    PM
    lpatterson

    Lara Patterson

    ‘Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think. ~Robert Henri’

    This quote means ,to me, that people when at the sea are relaxed or comfortable. I think that when people are at the sea they think about their life or issues that they face currently. People are also drawn to the sea if they are sad, or emotional and when people go to the sea they will be relaxed and become happy while thinking happy thoughts.

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