“The colonists had no library at their disposal; but the engineer was a book which was always at hand, always open at the page which one wanted, a book which answered all their questions, and which they often consulted.”

“So is man's heart. The desire to perform a work which will endure, which will survive him, is the origin of his superiority over all other living creatures here below. It is this which has established his dominion, and this it is which justifies it, over all the world.”

“Was he being devoured by one of those secret rages, all the more terrible because contained, and which only burst forth, with irresistible force, at the last moment?”

“IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT RECEIVES A NEW PROOF THAT FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE”

“People caught up in the excitement of mutiny could not maintain for long that union which allows great things to be accomplished. A ring leader of mutineers never has anything but an uncertain power in his hands.”

“The chance which now seems lost may present itself at the last moment.”

“What a big book, captain, might be made with all that is known!""And what a much bigger book still with all that is not known!”