“I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to look up and thank God that my life was saved, in a case wherein there was, some minutes before, scarcely any room to hope. I believe it is impossible to express to the life what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it is so saved…For sudden joys, for griefs, confound at first.”
“…having been excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have done in my condition, and found myself the most refreshed with it that I think I ever was on such an occasion.”
“I smiled to myself at the sight of this money. 'O drug !' said I, aloud,' what art thou good for ? Thou art not worth to me—no, not the taking off the ground ; one of those knives is worth all this heap. I have no manner of use for thee ; even remain where thou art, and go to the bottom as a creature whose life is not worth saving.' However, upon second thoughts, I took it away, and wrapping all of it in a piece of canvas…”
“I consulted several things in my situation which I found would be proper for me : first, Health and fresh water, I just now mentioned ; secondly, Shelter from the heat of the sun; thirdly, Security from ravenous creatures, whether man or beast; fourthly, A view to the sea, that if God sent any ship in sight, I might not lose any advantage for my deliverance, of which I was not willing to banish all my expectation yet…”
“And this put me in mind that I wanted many things, notwithstanding all that I had amassed together; and of these, this of ink was one, as also spade, pick-axe, and shovel, to dig or remove the earth; needles, pins, and thread. As for linen, I soon learned to want that without much difficulty.”
“…there was scarcely any condition in the world so miserable, but there was something negative or something positive to be thankful for in it. And let this stand as a direction from the experience of the most miserable of all conditions in this world, that we may always find in it something to comfort ourselves from, and to set, in the description of good and evil, on the credit side of the account.”
"...sowed the rest of my seed in February, a little before the vernal equinox ; and this, having the rainy months of March and April to water it, sprung up very pleasantly, and yielded a very good crop. But having part of the seed left only, and not daring to sow all that I had, I had but a small quantity at last, my whole crop not amounting to above half a peck of each kind."
"I cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me to come into my old hutch, and lie down in my hammock-bed. This little wandering journey, without a settled place of abode, had been so unpleasant to me, that my own house, as I called it to myself, was a perfect settlement to me compared to that; and it rendered everything about me so comfortable"
"It might be truly said, that I now worked for my bread. It is a little wonderful, and what I believe few people have thought much upon, namely, the strange multitude of little things necessary in the providing, producing, curing, dressing, making, and finishing this one article of bread."
“I finished my fourth year in the place, and kept my anniversary with the same devotion, and with as much comfort as before. I entertained different notions of things; I looked now upon the world as a thing remote, which I had nothing to do with, no expectation from, and indeed no desires about: in a word, I had nothing indeed to do with it, nor was ever likely to have.
I might have raised ship-loadings of corn, but I had no use for it, so I had tortoises or turtles enough, but now and then one was as much as I could put to any use. I had timber enough to have built a fleet of ships. I had grapes enough to have made wine, or to have cured into raisins to have loaded that fleet when they had been built.
But all I could make use of was that which was valuable to me. I had enough to eat and to supply my wants, and what was all the rest? If I killed more flesh than I could eat, the dog must eat it, or the vermin: if I sowed more corn than I could eat, it must be spoiled. The trees that I cut down lying to rot on the ground, I could make no more use of them that for fuel-and that I had no occasion for but to dress my food.
In a word, the nature and experience of things dictated to me, upon just reflection, that all the good things of this world are no further good to us than as they are for our use; and that, whatever we may heap up to give others, we enjoy only as much as we can use, and no more.”
