Sailing Sayings and Quotes

There's something about the open sea and adventure that draws people to sailing. Sure, it can be dangerous, but completing a difficult journey can also be very rewarding. Below you’ll find a collection of wise and insightful quotes about sailing.

I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship. Aeschylus
I wanted freedom, open air and adventure. I found it on the sea. Alain Gerbault
Flying might not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price. Amelia Earhart
The art of the sailor is to leave nothing to chance. Annie Van De Wiele
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. Antoine de Saint Exupery
We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds. "Aristotle Onassis "
I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full. Arthur Ashe
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel. August Hare
They that go down to the sea in ships; and occupy their business in great waters; these men see the works of the Lord; and His wonders in the deep. Book of Common Prayer
The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect. Carl Sandburg
Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him. Charles G. Davis
My goal in sailing isn't to be brilliant or flashy in individual races, just to be consistent over the long run. Dennis Conner
When a man comes to like a sea life, he is not fit to live on land. Dr. Samuel Johnson
The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigator. Edmund Gibbon
The sooner we learn to be jointly responsible, the easier the sailing will be. Ella Maillart
Never in my life before have I experienced such beauty, and fear at the same time. Ellen MacArthur
The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats. Ernest Hemingway
The house was built on the highest part of the narrow tongue of land between the harbor and the open sea. It had lasted through three hurricanes and it was built solid as a ship. Ernest Hemingway
There is nothing like lying flat on your back on the deck, alone except for the helmsman aft at the wheel, silence except for the lapping of the sea against the side of the ship. At that time you can be equal to Ulysses and brother to him. Errol Flynn
No literature is richer than that of the sea. No story is more enthralling, no tradition is more secure. Felix Riesenberg
Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination. Fitzhugh Dodson
The cabin of a small yacht is truly a wonderful thing; not only will it shelter you from a tempest, but from the other troubles in life which may be even more disturbing, it is a safe retreat. Francis Herreshoff
To reach a port we must set sail – Sail, not tie at anchor. Sail, not drift. Franklin D. Roosevelt
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars or sailed to an uncharted land or opened a new heaven to the human spirit. Helen Keller
The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea. Isak Dinesen
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever. Jacques Yves Cousteau
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. John A. Shedd
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a gray dawn breaking. John Masefield
There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea. Joseph Conrad
The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness. Joseph Conrad