"Seat thyself sultanically among the moons of Saturn, and take high abstracted man alone; and he seems a wonder, a grandeur, and a woe. But from the same point, take mankind in mass, and for the most part, they seem a mob of unnecessary duplicates, both contemporary and hereditary."
Musing: Throughout Moby-Dick, there are many references to how man, in theory, is a pretty amazing creation. Melville likes to point out that while the idea of man is pretty incredible, the reality of what we have become is pretty weak. So many themes come from this macro/micro view of mankind. Melville is very astute when it comes to looking at "mob mentality" and how it has ruined the ability for man to live up to his potential greatness.