"Herman Melville was as separated from a civilized literature as the lost Atlantis was said to have been from the great peoples of the earth"

"It is a useless life that is not consecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without becoming a part of any edifice"

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime"

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them"

"Men are only as great as they are kind"

"He's by best friend and the father of my children. He's a great ex"

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do"

"To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization"

"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect"

"I don't know which is more discouraging, literature or chickens"

"Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer"