{"quotes":[{"text":"I phoned the Admiral back.'It's no use, Admiral, the French speak nothing but French.'There was a short pause on the end of the line then his voice rattled into life like a sabre.'They're lying, Tim!''What?''The French Navy must by law speak English, as English is the international maritime language of the sea.''Has anyone told the French that?'The line went dead for a moment before he thundered, 'Yes Nelson. At the battle of Trafalgar.'I tried to stifle an irresistibly British giggle not knowing if the Admiral was making a joke or not. I got it right. He was serious.","author":"Tim FitzHigham","tags":["communication","french-navy","humour","language","maritime","nautical","navy","the-french"],"id":82624,"author_id":"Tim+FitzHigham"},{"text":"The soul, they say, is divine and the flesh is iniquity. But I am a musician and I ask this - without the wood and the strings of the violin, where would the sonata find form?","author":"Kathleen Valentine","tags":["love-story","maritime","maritime-stories","romance"],"id":155188,"author_id":"Kathleen+Valentine"},{"text":"With this idea, being a man with long experience of the sea (and they certainly have a great advantage over other men in any sort of task)...","author":"Garcilaso de la Vega","tags":["maritime","oceans","sailing","sea"],"id":226222,"author_id":"Garcilaso+de+la+Vega"},{"text":"The dangers of the sea should always take precedenceover the violence of the enemy’Rear-Admiral Ben Bryant CB, DSO and two bars, DSC.","author":"Ben Bryant","tags":["history","maritime","naval","royal-navy","sea","ships","submarine","ww2","wwii"],"id":260251,"author_id":"Ben+Bryant"},{"text":"[T]hen all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.","author":"Herman Melville","tags":["immensity","maritime","ocean","sea","time"],"id":442303,"author_id":"Herman+Melville"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":5,"pages":1}}