“It's time, Old Captain, lift anchor, sink!The land rots; we shall sail into the night;if now the sky and sea are black as inkour hearts, as you must know, are filled with light.Only when we drink poison are we well —we want, this fire so burns our brain tissue,to drown in the abyss — heaven or hell,who cares? Through the unknown, we'll find the new. ("Le Voyage")”

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Baudelaire - “It's time, Old Captain, lift...” 1

Similar quotes

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, 
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, 
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. 
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life, 
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity, 
and in our efforts to build a new earth, 
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. 
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, 
where storms will show your mastery, 
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. 
We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, 
and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love. 
This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ. ”

Sir Francis Drake
Read more

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving—we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it—but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Read more

“Hell is in the here and now. So is heaven. Quit worrying about hell or dreaming about heaven, as they are both present inside this very moment. Every time we fall in love, we ascend to heaven. Every time we hate, envy, or fight someone, we tumble straight into the fires of hell.”

Elif Shafak
Read more

“The JumbliesIThey went to sea in a Sieve, they did, In a Sieve they went to sea:In spite of all their friends could say,On a winter's morn, on a stormy day, In a Sieve they went to sea!And when the Sieve turned round and round,And every one cried, 'You'll all be drowned!'They called aloud, 'Our Sieve ain't big,But we don't care a button! we don't care a fig! In a Sieve we'll go to sea!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. IIThey sailed away in a Sieve, they did,In a Sieve they sailed so fast, With only a beautiful pea-green veilTied with a riband by way of a sail, To a small tobacco-pipe mast;And every one said, who saw them go,'O won't they be soon upset, you know!For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,And happen what may, it's extremely wrong In a Sieve to sail so fast!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. IIIThe water it soon came in, it did, The water it soon came in;So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feetIn a pinky paper all folded neat, And they fastened it down with a pin.And they passed the night in a crockery-jar,And each of them said, 'How wise we are!Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long,Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong, While round in our Sieve we spin!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. IVAnd all night long they sailed away; And when the sun went down,They whistled and warbled a moony songTo the echoing sound of a coppery gong, In the shade of the mountains brown.'O Timballo! How happy we are,When we live in a Sieve and a crockery-jar,And all night long in the moonlight pale,We sail away with a pea-green sail, In the shade of the mountains brown!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. VThey sailed to the Western Sea, they did, To a land all covered with trees,And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart,And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart, And a hive of silvery Bees.And they bought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws,And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws,And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree, And no end of Stilton Cheese. Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. VIAnd in twenty years they all came back, In twenty years or more,And every one said, 'How tall they've grown!For they've been to the Lakes, and the Torrible Zone, And the hills of the Chankly Bore!'And they drank their health, and gave them a feastOf dumplings made of beautiful yeast;And every one said, 'If we only live,We too will go to sea in a Sieve,--- To the hills of the Chankly Bore!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.”

Edward Lear
Read more

“and what sunshine are you going to bring into our lives today? Shall we poison the well or burn the house down?”

Kurt Vonnegut
Read more