Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore. – Lord (George Gordon) Byron

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. – John Edward Masefield

The sea, washing the equator and the poles, offers its perilous aid, and the power and empire that follow it… Beware of me, it says, but if you can hold me, I am the key to all the lands. – Ralph Waldo Emerson