Nathaniel Philbrick

Whatever you read, there's no better place to read than the cockpit or the berth of a boat. It's kind of like being in a womb.

As an author of narrative history, I read a lot of history books.

In all natural disasters through time, man needs to attach meaning to tragedy, no matter how random and inexplicable the event is.

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.

When I got sober, I thought giving up was saying goodbye to all the fun and all the sparkle, and it turned out to be just the opposite. That's when the sparkle started for me.