captain quotes

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the L hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the L hath commanded him to be captain over his people.

-Bible (Old Testament)
ORDORD1 Samuel13:14.

   Like being the captain of a mine-sweeper, if you do your job well, nobody notices.If you don't, there's a hell of an explosion.

- Henry E(dward) Catto
  On his role as chief of protocol. In the Washington Post, 22 Mar.

I had rather have a plain, russet-coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a Gentle-man and is nothing else.

- Oliver Cromwell
  Letter to Sir William Spring, Sep. Quotedin Thomas Carlyle Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (1845).

: Bad language or abuse, I never, never use, Whatever the emergency; Though 'Bother it' I may Occasionally say, I never use a big, big D : What, never? : No, never! : What never? : Well, hardly ever! : Hardly ever swears a big, big D Then give three cheers, and one cheer more, For the well-bred Captain of the Pinafore!

- Sir W(illiam) S(chwenck) Gilbert
  CAPTALLCAPTALLCAPTALL1878  HMS Pinafore, act1.

How on earth are the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England†to be taken seriouslyagainst that kind of background noise? It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only for them to find, the moment the first balls are bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.

- Baron Howe
  Personal statement on his resignation, House of Commons,13 Nov.

Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: 'To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his God?'

-1st Baron
  Lays of  Ancient Rome,'Horatius', stanza 27.

The curse of hell upon the sleek upstart That got the Captain finally on his back And took the red red vitals of his heart And made the kites to whet their beaks clack clack.

-John Crowe Ransom
  Chills and Fever,'Captain Carpenter'.

The captain is in his bunk, drinking bottled ditch-water; and the crew isgambling in the forecastle. She will strike and sink and split. Do you think the laws of God will be suspended in favour of England because you were born in it?

- George Bernard Shaw
  Captain Shotover. Heartbreak House, act 3.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting.

-Walt(er) Whitman
  Leaves of Grass,'Memories of President Lincoln','O Captain! My Captain!'