"We know the sea to be an everlasting terra incognita, so that Columbus sailed over numberless unknown worlds to discover his one superficial western one."
Â
Musing: I should have posted this on Columbus Day! This line always make me pause. The sea is still unknown territory. And imagine the truth in Melville's line. Why do we insist on only exploring terra firma? When we set our minds on one, solid truth, look at the truths we are sailing over.