“a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it.”

“Seldom have I known any profound being that had anything to say to this world, unless forced to stammer out something by way of getting a living. Oh! happy that the world is such an excellent listener!”

“There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals.”

“Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.”

“In truth, a mature man who uses hair oil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere.”

“Consider all this; and then turn to this green, gentle, and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself?”

“Is he mad? Anyway there's something on his mind, as sure as there must be something on a deck when it cracks.”