And to the question asked by Ecclesiastes three thousand years ago, “That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?” two men alone of all now living have the right to give an answer—— CAPTAIN NEMO AND MYSELF.
Book 1870
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas quotes
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About the book
When ships around the world report a huge, fast creature in the ocean, the French naturalist Pierre Aronnax joins a hunt for it, along with his servant Conseil and the harpooner Ned Land. What they find is the Nautilus, an electric submarine far ahead of its time, commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo, who has turned his back on life on land. Held aboard as guests and prisoners, they travel the world's oceans and see wonders no one has seen before.
7 quotes
I can imagine the foundations of nautical towns, clusters of submarine houses, … free towns, independent cities. Yet who knows whether some despot——
I am the law, and I am the judge! I am the oppressed, and there is the oppressor!
The sea does not belong to despots. Upon its surface men can still exercise unjust laws, fight, tear one another to pieces, and be carried away with terrestrial horrors. But at thirty feet below its level, their reign ceases, their influence is quenched, and…
I am not what you call a civilised man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not therefore obey its laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!
The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides.
There is a powerful agent, obedient, rapid, easy, which conforms to every use, and reigns supreme on board my vessel. Everything is done by means of it. It lights it, warms it, and is the soul of my mechanical apparatus. This agent is electricity.