If the gods think to speak outright to man, they will honorably speak outright; not shake their heads, and give an old wives’ darkling hint.
ATTRIBUTION:
Herman Melville (1819–1891), U.S. author. Moby-Dick (1851), ch. 133, The Writings of Herman Melville, vol. 6, eds. Harrison Hayford, Hershel Parker, and G. Thomas Tanselle (1988).
