"I cannot analyse my heart, though it then stood still within me. But the thing that swayed me to my purpose was not altogether the thought that Captain Claret was about to degrade me, and that I had taken an oath with my soul that he should not. No, I felt my man's manhood so bottomless within me, that no word, no blow, no scourge of Captain Claret could cut me deep enough for that. I but swung to an instinct in me β the instinct diffused through all animated nature, the same that prompts even a worm to turn under the heel. Locking souls-with him, I meant to drag Captain Claret from this earthly tribunal of his to that of Jehovah and let Him decide between us. No other way could I escape the scourge."
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Novelists from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesHumanistsPeople from New York CityPhilosophical pessimists
Original Language: English
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Ch. 67
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Herman_Melville
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Herman Melville
1819 β 1891
US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller, Dichter und Essayist
118 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Herman Melville β
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