[Savage Beast]

“Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began.

“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? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!”

Herman Melville
Moby Dick

Nature is a bloodbath. Those who have never pushed off from that insular Tahiti are peaceful and joyful in the ignorance of this. Those who have can never return.

[demshateGod]

I spent many hours of my life wading through that stream of consciousness called Moby Dick. With only 3 chapters left, I put it down saying, “there’s nothing that could happen in three chapters that would make reading any further worth my while.”