From Loomings
"Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. [ . . .] With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in."
Musing: The beginning of Moby-Dick had me from the start. I don't understand the world, how it works, how we work, but I am willing to love it all. I have never understood why so many people will not.
I do not understand the white whale, but I'm trying.
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