There are times when even the most potent governor must wink at transgression, in order to preserve the laws inviolate for the future. – Herman Melville
Stripped of the cunning artifices of the tailor, and standing forth in the garb of Eden – what a sorry set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked, crane-necked varlets would civilized men appear! – Herman Melville
In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without passport whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers. – Herman Melville
The sailor is frankness, the landsman is finesse. Life is not a game with the sailor, demanding the long head – Herman Melville
The attack on ObamaCare was that Congress does not have the power under the Commerce Clause to force a private citizen into a private contractual relationship. If such a thing is permitted to stand, the anti-ObamaCare forces argue, there will be no limit to Congresss power in the future. – John Podhoretz