Herman Melville was one of the greatest American writers and poets of the American Renaissance period. Tragically, most of the recognition that Melville today is showered upon came in after his life. He started his career as a sailor, later serving as a crew man in various vessels. It was his experience at sea that shaped much of his future career as a novelist and writer. The experience and adventure at sea formed the crux and gave a background for his debut book, ‘Typee’. His early success prompted him to write the novels, ‘Mardi’ and ‘Redburn’. He then came up with his masterpiece ‘Moby-Dick’. Although the novel failed commercially then, it is today considered as a work of sheer genius. Melville’s style was complex and baroque. His works are rich in vocabulary and have a strong sense of rhythm to them. Also, Melville in most of his works plays with imagery, creating allusion that extends to scripture, myth, philosophy, literature and the visual arts. His sheer genius can also be seen in his quotes that maps the emotional, physical and psychological existence of humans. He has written quotes on love, dignity, hope, democracy, success, failure, friendship, truth and so on. Read on to find some of the highly meaningful quotes by Herman Melville.