Herman Melville Quotes about Humanity

All Herman Melville Quotes Adversity Age Art Atheism Beauty Character Charity Children Christianity Cooking Country Courage Creativity Death Democracy Devil Doubt Earth Ego Evil Failure Fame Fate Fear Feelings Fighting Food Genius Giving God Greatness Greek Grief Happiness Hate Heart Heaven Home Honor Horror Human Nature Humanity quotes Inspirational Joy Judging Knowledge Laughter Life Literature Love Lying Madness Memories Money Morning Mountain Nature Pain Past Prayer Prejudice Purpose Quality Reality Religion Running Sailing Silence Sin Skins Slavery Sleep Smoking Son Sorrow Soul Spring Success Suffering Summer Terror Travel Truth Virtue War Water Wife Wine Wisdom Work Writing Youth

We are only what we are; not what we would be; nor every thing we hope for. We are but a step in a scale, that reaches further above us than below.

We are only what we are; not what we would be; nor every thing we hope for. We are but a step in a scale, that reaches further above us than below.

Herman Melville

Perfection, Humanity, Would Be

Herman Melville (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)”, p.1031, Delphi Classics

True Work is the necessity of poor humanity's earthly condition. The dignity is in leisure. Besides, 99 hundredths of all the work done in the world is either foolish and unnecessary, or harmful and wicked.

Herman Melville

Work, Humanity, Wicked

Herman Melville, Lynn Horth (1993). “Correspondence”, p.464, Northwestern University Press