25 Ocean-Inspired Quotes from Authors
Introduction
The vast expanse of the ocean has long captivated the hearts and minds of writers, poets, and thinkers throughout history. Its boundless beauty, its mysteries, and its profound symbolism have given birth to some of the most profound and evocative words ever penned.
Immerse yourself in the timeless wisdom, lyrical musings, and profound insights of celebrated authors who found their muse in the sea’s eternal embrace. These 25 ocean-inspired quotes from authors are more than words on a page; they are windows into the human spirit’s profound connection with the ocean’s boundless horizon.
From the rhythmic cadence of the waves to the vastness of the open sea, these quotes will transport you to the shores of reflection, where the ocean serves as a metaphor for life’s grandeur, mystery, and resilience.
The voice of the sea...
“The voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting, the soul to wander in abysses of solitude.”
― Kate Chopin, The Awakening
Water does not resist...
“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad
Just because...
“Just because we didn’t end up on the same wave, doesn’t mean we aren’t still a part of the same ocean.”
― Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us
She would be half a planet away...
“She would be half a planet away, floating in a turquoise sea, dancing by moonlight to flamenco guitar.”
― Janet Fitch, White Oleander
It's hard to tell the difference...
“It’s hard to tell the difference between sea and sky, between voyager and sea. Between reality and the workings of the heart.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
You are the gull...
“You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
For whatever we lose...
“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It’s always our self we find in the sea.”
― e.e. cummings, 100 Selected Poems
Live in the sunshine...
“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am a tiny seashell...
“I am a tiny seashell
that has secretly drifted ashore
and carries the sound of the ocean
surging through its body.”
― Edward Hirsch
She loves...
“She loves the serene brutality of the ocean, loves the electric power she felt with each breath of wet, briny air.”
― Holly Black, Tithe
Because there’s nothing...
“Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.”
― Sarah Kay
If you want...
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The sea always filled...
“The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.”
― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
You didn't come into this world...
“You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.”
― Alan W. Watts, Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown
I must be a mermaid...
“I must be a mermaid. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.”
― Anais Nin
We are like islands...
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”
― William James
The tides are in our veins...
“The tides are in our veins, we still mirror the stars, life is your child, but there is in me
Older and harder than life and more impartial, the eye that watched before there was an ocean.”
― Robinson Jeffers
How inappropriate...
“How inappropriate to call this planet “Earth,” when it is clearly “Ocean.”
― Arthur C. Clarke
The sea is...
“The sea is nothing but a library of all the tears in history.”
― Lemony Snicket
Look at that sea, girls...
“Look at that sea, girls–all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
I am longing...
“I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula
The breaking...
“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
We need the tonic of wildness...
“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us. We can never have enough of nature.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods
The kindest words...
“The kindest words my father said to me
Women like you drown oceans.”
― Rupi Kaur, milk and honey
The sea is emotion incarnate...
“The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon
