Nancy

“This is one of the great truths of the human condition: our most defining actions are all too often born from nothing more than cowardice and opportunity.”
― Mark Smeltz, The Wreck of the Melville

“My book experiences on board of the frigate proved an example of a fact which every book-lover must have experienced before me, namely, that though public libraries have an imposing air, and doubtless contain invaluable volumes, yet, somehow, the books that prove most agreeable, grateful, and companionable, are those we pick up by chance here and there; those which seem put into our hands by Providence; those which pretend to little, but abound in much.”
― Herman Melville

“Such is the curse of evil men: they cannot conceive that other men are better, and so they exacerbate their own misery by anticipating betrayal at every turn.”
― Mark Smeltz, The Wreck of the Melville

“Of course," he muttered. "In an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is itself a form of madness.”
― Mark Smeltz, The Wreck of the Melville