William Petty Quotes

To be taken into account were some years of schooling, where I studied with diligence Neptune's laws, and these laws I tried to obey when I sailed overseas; it was worth the while.

I used all diligence to arrive at London and therefore I now gave my crew a certificate under my hand, of my free and willing return, without persuasion or force by any one or more of them.

In a calm sea every man is a pilot.

The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act is an important authorization for our country and for our citizens, as we have seen so vividly in the last few weeks.

Here are also the two vessels, but the San Carlos without sailors, all having died of the scurvy, except two.

I've been in tankers for 50 years, and I like it. For me, it's still fun.

If you wish to avoid foreign collision, you had better abandon the ocean.

… navigating all boats that might be propelled by steam, on all waters within the territory, or jurisdiction of the State, for the term of twenty years.

London is the headquarters of the International Maritime Organisation, the location of the largest insurance market, and houses a significant ship-broking community, apart from the many other professional services related to shipping.

I loved being at sea: the sights, the sounds, the food, the sunshine, the people, and the work.

I have no interest in sailing around the world. Not that there is any lack of requests for me to do so.

Historically, maritime travelers had to pass around the entire mass of North and South America, including the bottom tip, the tempestuous Cape Horn, which was littered with shipwrecks.

I don't really know much about pirates, or pirate culture. I'd be a contrarian pirate.

I want to conquer the unknown. I really, really want to live on the water and captain my own boat. I have dreamed of going around the world on a boat.

None of the serious maritime incidents I had to deal with as transport minister off the pristine Queensland or Western Australian coastline involved an Australian flagged and crewed vessel.

No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.

At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect.

Usually, there is no equivalent of air traffic control at sea. Some busy areas operate 'traffic separation schemes,' but mostly, ships are treated like cars on roads where there are rules and codes of behavior, and successful, accident-free outcomes depend on everyone respecting them. As on roads, this doesn't always work.

Each year over 2,500 commercial vessels enter the Port of Hampton Roads alone, so adequate funding for port security is a significant issue for those of us who live in Richmond and Hampton Roads.

Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.

Anybody can pilot a ship when the sea is calm.

There can be only one Captain to a ship.

The sea is my business.

Wind to a sailor is what money is to life on shore.

Who cares about the men who steered your breakfast cereal through winter storms? How ironic that the more ships have grown in size and consequence, the less space they take up in our imagination.