Today's MOMENT OF ZEN 11/21/12

Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab in Moby Dick
words by F LoBuono

For some inexplicable reason, quotes from Herman Melville's classic American novel, Moby Dick, keep popping into my head! It's a difficult read because it's written in mid-nineteenth century, "nautical" language. However, it is well worth the effort. It truly is not only one of the GREAT American novels, it is one of the world's, too. The imagery and the metaphor are unmatched. Written in 1851, Melville always saw it as his masterpiece, even though it did not achieve its legendary status until well after his death. Anyway, most Americans know it from the brilliant movie starring Gregory Peck as the fierce and frightening, Captain Ahab. Most have never read the novel. They are missing out on something truly great.

Ahab, maimed by the massive and untamed, great white whale, Moby Dick, is demonically driven for revenge against the whale. Moby Dick has not only scarred his body, he has wounded Ahab's soul as well. And only the whale's death and dismemberment will satisfy his thirst for revenge. But it will not be easy. Moby Dick, who represents the awesome power of nature, is a fearsome adversary. It's sort of the immovable object meets the irresistible force!

The novel is loaded with wonderful quotes that represent Ahab's unbending will. This is one that stuck with me from the very first time I read the novel as a young man. I use it in my own life everyday:

What I've dared, I've willed; and what I've willed, I'll do.