One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography expands into placard capitals. Give me a condor's quill! Give me Vesuvius' crater for an inkstand! Friends, hold my arms! For in the mere act of penning my thoughts of this Leviathan, they weary me, and make me faint with their out-reaching comprehensiveness of sweep, as if to include the whole circle of the sciences, and all the generations of whales, and men, and mastodons, past, present, and to come, with all the revolving panoramas of empire on earth, and throughout the whole universe, not excluding its suburbs. Such, and so magnifying, is the virtue of a large and liberal theme! We expand to its bulk. To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be who have tried it. Herman Melville
About This Quote

This quote is a famous line from Herman Melville's Moby Dick, written in the novel's chapter called “The Pequod Meets the Alexandrian.” The writer explains that he really needs to put down his pen on something more interesting. He also mentions that he wants to write about the "Leviathan," which is a whale that has been hunted for centuries. However, he complains about the size of his topic which he believes is too big for him to handle.

Source: Mobydick Or, The Whale

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