Sperm Whale Ivory

Famous quotes containing the words whale and/or ivory:

“In clear weather the laziest may look across the Bay as far as Plymouth at a glance, or over the Atlantic as far as human vision reaches, merely raising his eyelids; or if he is too lazy to look after all, he can hardly help hearing the ceaseless dash and roar of the breakers. The restless ocean may at any moment cast up a whale or a wrecked vessel at your feet. All the reporters in the world, the most rapid stenographers, could not report the news it brings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

“The only refuge left to us was the poet’s ivory tower, which we climbed, ever higher, to isolate ourselves from the mob.”
—Gérard De Nerval (1808–1855)