The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cayo Blanco, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction written by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. Profoundly inspirational The Old Man And The Sea quotes will fire up your brain and encourage you to look at life differently while making you laugh.
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Famous The Old Man And The Sea Quotes
I wish I had the boy.
Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.
If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy. But since I am not crazy, I do not care.
All my life the early sun has hurt my eyes. Yet they are still good.
Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.
He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women , nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy.
He didn’t beat you. Not the fish.
The iridescent bubbles were beautiful … But they were the falsest thing in the sea.
Why do old men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?
It is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.
A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.
But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
Fish,he said softly, aloud. I’ll stay with you until I am dead.
He leaned … against the stern and knew he was not dead. His shoulders told him.
The fish is my friend too. I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I’m glad we do not have to kill the stars.
Then he shouldered the mast and started to climb.
My choice was to go there and find him beyond all people. Beyond all people in the world. Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either of us.
He is my brother. But I must kill him and keep strong to do it.
You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?
The punishment of the hook is nothing.
But a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
Fish… I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends.
But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.
It is silly not to hope.
Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for.
I didn’t know sharks had such handsome, beautifully formed tails.
A man is never lost at sea…
‘Fish,’ he said softly, aloud. ‘I’ll stay with you until I am dead.’
They are good… They play and make jokes and love one another. They are our brothers like the flying fish.
But I must have the confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel.
Anyone can be a fisherman in May.
He is wonderful and strange and who knows how old he is, he thought. Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely… He cannot know that it is only one man against him, nor that it is an old man. But what a great fish he is and what will he bring in the market if the flesh is good.
Then the fish came alive, with his death in him, and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty. He seemed to hang in the air above the old man in the skiff. Then he fell into the water with a crash that sent spray over the old man and over all of the skiff.
Just then the stern line came taut under his foot, where he had kept the loop of the line, and he dropped his oars and felt the weight of the small tuna’s shivering pull as he held the line firm and commenced to haul it in. The shivering increased as he pulled in and he could see the blue back of the fish in the water and the gold of his sides before he swung him over the side and into the boat. He lay in the stern in the sun, compact and bullet shaped, his big, unintelligent eyes staring as he thumped his life out against the planking of the boat with the quick shivering strokes of his neat, fast-moving tail. The old man hit him on the head for kindness and kicked him, his body still shuddering, under the shade of the stern.
Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.
There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only one you.
I wish I could show him what sort of man I am.
I am a strange old man.
Everything about him was old except his eyes, and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.
The thousand times he had proved it meant nothing. Now he was proving it again.
I think the great DiMaggio would be proud of me today.
It is better to be lucky. But I’d rather be exact.
To hell with luck. I’ll bring the luck with me.
No one should be alone in their old age, he thought.
Most people were heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after it has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too.
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
Fish… I’ll stay with you until I am dead.
Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great Joe DiMaggio.
He felt the line … with his right hand and noticed his hand was bleeding.
He always thought of the sea as ‘la mar’ which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her. Sometimes those who love her say bad things of her but they are always said as though she were a woman. Some of the younger fishermen, those who used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats, bought when the shark livers had brought much money, spoke of her as ‘el mar’ which is masculine.They spoke of her as a contestant or a place or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought
I may not be as stong as I think, but I know many tricks and I have resolution.
If sharks come, God pity him and me.
No one should be alone in their old age … But it is unavoidable.
