Old Thomas Nickerson Quotes in In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Old Thomas Nickerson: The tragedy of the Essex is the story of men. And a Demon.

Old Thomas Nickerson: [from trailer] We were headed for the edge of sanity... like we were aberrations, phantoms. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to superstition.

Herman Melville: Something else you've given me tonight.

Old Thomas Nickerson: And what's that?

Herman Melville: The courage to go where one does not want to go.

Old Thomas Nickerson: We were weeks in the doldrums. That part of the Pacific is more desert than ocean. The sun beating down.

[last lines]

Old Thomas Nickerson: You know, I heard a man from Pennsylvania drilled a hole in the ground recently and found oil. That can't be true.

Herman Melville: I heard it, too.

Old Thomas Nickerson: Oil from the ground! Fancy that.

Old Thomas Nickerson: Greed took hold of our captain and first mate. So we headed out. A thousand leagues along the equator. Where knowledge ended, speculation began. That's where the whales had gone to hide. As far from man as they could possibly go. But we hunted them down. Centuries before, sailors feared sailing off the edge of the Earth. But we where headed for the edge of sanity. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to blind superstition.

Old Thomas Nickerson: Take the money and leave! The devil's bargain.

Herman Melville: No, sir. The devil loves unspoken secrets. Especially those that fester in a man's soul.

Old Thomas Nickerson: What's yours?