"Objectives can be compared to a compass bearing by which a ship navigates. A compass bearing is firm, but in actual navigation, a ship may veer off its course for many miles. Without a compass bearing, a ship would neither find its port nor be able to estimate the time required to get there."
Ships quotes
Ships
366 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Ships quotes (page 2 of 19)
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"On ships they call them barnacles; in business they attach themselves to desks and are called vice presidents."
"Lampis the ship owner, on being asked how he acquired his great wealth, replied, My great wealth was acquired with no difficulty, but my small wealth, my first gains, with much labor."
"Look at the sun sinkin' like a ship. Ain't that just like my heart, babe. When you kissed my lips?"
"Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat."
"I have heard upscale adult U.S. citizens ask the ship's Guest Relations Desk whether snorkeling necessitates getting wet...I now know the precise mixocological difference between a Slippery Nipple and a fuzzy navel."
"It is a poor thing to strike our colors to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up 'our own' when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him."
"A ship is safe at shore but it's not built for that."
"When Christ came into my life, I came about like a well-handled ship."
"You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her decks? I have no time for such nonsense."
"Build me straight. O worthy Master! Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"
"A ship's a fool to fight a fort."
"The wake doesn't drive the ship"
"Not only I lost what I had in the ship, but from the captain and the company generally what was good or worth the taking was carried away; all which was done unknown to the emperor."
"Every day brings a ship, Every ship brings a word; Well for those who have no fear, Looking seaward well assured That the word the vessel brings Is the word they wish to hear."
"If words had weight, a single sentence from Death would have anchored a ship."
"Should you fail to pilot your own ship, don't be surprised at what inappropriate port you find yourself docked."
"There is no ship now that can bear me hence"
"You don't integrate with a sinking ship."
"When one rows it is not the rowing which moves the ship: rowing is only a magical ceremony by means of which one compels a demon to move the ship."