Arthur Ransome

“A duffer is a person who is all thumbs.”

“Boats are a good deal more than wood and canvas, or steel and wire. They are living things, with characters and personalities of their own.”

“Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers won't drown.”

“Grab a chance and you won't be sorry for a might-have-been.”

“The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage.”

“Swallows and Amazons for ever!”

“It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.”

“The big things are the same for all of us. Death, childbirth, and the search for a god.”

“There are some things that cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring.”

“I am a storyteller, that is all.”

“What's a vole, Dad? A vole is a sort of water-rat, but not a real rat.”

“The secret of the whole world is that it is a story.”