Tattoo parties: just like a regular party – but with a permanent hangover. – Rob Ruckus, Bad Ink, “Tat’s Ink-redible!” original airdate 2014 February 2

We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible. – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast Table, 1872

The universality of tattooing is a curious subject for speculation. – James Cook, 1779

And what is it, thought I, after all! It’s only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin. – Herman Melville, Moby-Dick