How much can one man endure against the vast indifference of the sea?
Ernest Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novella, The Old Man and the Sea, plunges readers into the weathered world of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman battling fate, nature, and the tides of his own existence.
After eighty-four days without a catch, his solitary pursuit of a giant marlin becomes a raw testament to the unconquered human spirit.
Our collection presents 52 unique quotes from Santiago’s journey, capturing his grit in perseverance, the quiet dignity of pride tempered by humility, his reverence for nature’s beauty and cruelty, the anchoring bond of friendship, and the enduring power of dreams. These lines carve out the profound simplicity and deep currents of Hemingway’s masterful tale.
Santiago’s spirit refuses to break, forged by relentless determination against hardship and the frailties of his aging body.
Perseverance and Endurance
Against the vastness of the sea and the agony of his struggle, Santiago’s resolve becomes his defining trait.
“I may not be as stong as I think,… but I know many tricks and I have resolution.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Determination, Skill vs. Strength, Page 23
“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Resourcefulness, Focus, Acceptance, Page 110
This becomes Santiago’s core philosophy, stripped bare by the sea—focus on capability, not lack.
“He rested sitting on the un-stepped mast and sail and tried not to think but only to endure.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago), Theme: Endurance, Stoicism, Page 46
“I must hold him all I can and give him line when he must have it. Thank God he is travelling and not going down.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Strategy, Endurance, Hope, Page 45
“I must hold all I can, he thought. The strain will shorten his circle each time. Perhaps in an hour I will see him. Now I must convince him and then I must kill him.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Endurance, Strategy, Resolve, Page 86
“I could not fail myself and die on a fish like this,” he said. “Now that I have him coming so beautifully, God help me endure. I’ll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys. But I cannot say them now.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Endurance, Faith, Determination, Page 87
“You better be fearless and confident yourself, old man,” he said. “You’re holding him again but you cannot get line. But soon he has to circle.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago to himself), Theme: Self-Reliance, Confidence, Strategy, Page 84
“Now you are getting confused in the head, he thought. You must keep your head clear. Keep your head clear and know how to suffer like a man. Or a fish, he thought.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Endurance, Clarity, Suffering, Page 92
“Now they have beaten me, he thought. I am too old to club sharks to death. But I will try it as long as I have the oars and the short club and the tiller.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Defeat, Age, Perseverance, Page 112
“Fight them,” he said. “I’ll fight them until I die.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Defiance, Endurance, Page 115
Santiago’s relentless endurance is matched only by his reverence for the sea and its creatures, blending pride with profound humility.
Pride, Humility, and Respect for Nature
Santiago embodies a paradox: fierce pride in his craft, yet a deep humility before the marlin and the sea’s untamed power.
“He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago), Theme: Humility, Pride, Self-Awareness, Pages 13-14
Hemingway reveals Santiago’s core: pride and humility are not opposites but intertwined threads of his hard-earned wisdom.
“Why did they make birds so delicate and fine as those sea swallows when the ocean can be so cruel?”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Nature’s Duality, Fragility, Page 29
“She is kind and very beautiful. But she can be so cruel and it comes so suddenly and such birds that fly, dipping and hunting, with their small sad voices are made too delicately for the sea.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts about the sea), Theme: Personification of Nature, Duality, Page 29
“He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her… But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago), Theme: Personification of Nature, Respect, Gender, Pages 29-30
Santiago’s view of the sea as ‘la mar’ reflects his deep respect for its life-giving and destructive power, seen through a lens of acceptance.
“Fish,” he said, “I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago to the Marlin), Theme: Respect for Opponent, Duty, Mortality, Page 54
“Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after it has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago’s thoughts), Theme: Empathy, Connection to Nature, Page 37
“But, thank God, [the fish] are not as intelligent as we who kill them; although they are more noble and more able.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Humanity vs. Nature, Intelligence vs. Nobility, Page 63
“Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Pride, Performance, Psychology, Page 64
“I am not religious,” he said. “But I will say ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys that I should catch this fish, and I promise to make a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Cobre if I catch him. That is a promise.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Faith, Bargaining, Desperation, Page 65
“I wish I could feed the fish, he thought. He is my brother. But I must kill him and keep strong to do it.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Brotherhood, Duty, Paradox, Page 59
“Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Identity, Purpose, Fate, Page 50
“Now is when I must prove it.” The thousand times that he had proved it meant nothing. Now he was proving it again. Each time was a new time and he never thought about the past when he was doing it.
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts & Narrator), Theme: Pride, Proving Oneself, Present Moment, Page 66
For Santiago, true worth lies not in past triumphs but in facing each challenge with unwavering resolve.
“I hate a cramp, he thought. It is a treachery of one’s own body.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Aging, Body Betrayal, Suffering, Pages 61-62
“The punishment of the hook is nothing. The punishment of hunger, and that he is against something that he does not comprehend, is everything.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts about the marlin), Theme: Suffering, Understanding, Empathy, Page 76
“I killed him in self-defense,” the old man said aloud. “And I killed him well.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago regarding the dentuso shark), Theme: Justification, Skill, Page 105
“Don’t think, old man,” he said aloud. “Sail on this course and take it when it comes.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago to himself), Theme: Focus, Acceptance, Page 103
In the vast solitude, Santiago’s bond with the boy, Manolin, anchors him, weaving memories of companionship through his isolation.
Friendship, Mentorship, and Loneliness
The bond between Santiago and Manolin offers a poignant counterpoint to the old man’s solitude, embodying loyalty, shared respect, and the enduring power of mentorship.
“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.” The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him. “No,” the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Dialogue: Santiago and Manolin), Theme: Friendship, Loyalty, Mentorship, Practicality, Page 9
“If you were my boy I’d take you out and gamble,” he said. “But you are your father’s and your mother’s and you are in a lucky boat.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago to Manolin), Theme: Father Figure, Acceptance, Luck, Page 12
“Keep the blanket around you,” the boy said. “You’ll not fish without eating while I’m alive.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Manolin to Santiago), Theme: Care, Loyalty, Role Reversal, Page 19
“Why do old men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?” “I don’t know,” the boy said. “All I know is that young boys sleep late and hard.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Dialogue: Santiago and Manolin), Theme: Age, Youth, Perspective, Page 24
“No one should be alone in their old age, he thought.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Loneliness, Aging, Companionship, Page 48
“I wish I had the boy” the old man said aloud. “I’m being towed by a fish and I’m the towing bitt.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Loneliness, Need for Help, Struggle, Page 45
“It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea…”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago and the boy), Theme: Communication, Tradition, Page 39
“If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy. But since I am not, I do not care.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Individuality, Perception, Self-Reliance, Page 39
“He knew no man was ever alone on the sea.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago), Theme: Nature, Connection, Perspective, Page 61
Even miles from shore, Santiago finds profound connection—to the sea, its creatures, and crucially, to the boy through memory and longing.
“The boy keeps me alive, he thought.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Connection, Sustenance, Hope, Page 106
“The hell with luck,” the boy said. “I’ll bring the luck with me.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Manolin), Theme: Loyalty, Defiance of Fate, Friendship, Page 125
The ultimate battle brings loss, but Santiago’s spirit redefines what it means to be defeated, proving resilience in the face of ruin.
Defeat, Resilience, and the Nature of Loss
Though sharks strip Santiago of his prize, his spirit remains unconquered. His struggle illustrates profound resilience and challenges conventional notions of victory and defeat.
“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Hope, Preparation, Luck vs. Skill, Page 32
Santiago’s philosophy underscores that true strength lies in preparation, not mere fortune.
“It is silly not to hope. It’s a sin he thought.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Hope, Belief, Sin, Pages 104-105
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Endurance, Resilience, Spirit, Defeat, Page 103
Perhaps the novella’s most iconic line, encapsulating the heart of human resilience against physical destruction.
“You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Motivation, Pride, Love, Sin, Justification, Page 105
“You think too much, old man,” he said aloud.
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago to himself), Theme: Self-Awareness, Thought, Page 105
“Half fish,” he said. “Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went too far out. I ruined us both. But we have killed many sharks, you and I, and ruined many others.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago), Theme: Loss, Regret, Shared Struggle, Acceptance, Page 115
“It is easy when you are beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought.” “Nothing,” he said aloud. “I went out too far.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts & speech), Theme: Acceptance, Responsibility, Defeat, Page 120
Santiago refuses victimhood, owning his fate by acknowledging he ventured beyond conventional limits.
“They beat me, Manolin,” he said. “They truly beat me.” “He didn’t beat you. Not the fish.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Dialogue: Santiago and Manolin), Theme: Defeat, Perspective, Victory in Loss, Page 124
“Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can recognize her?”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Santiago‘s thoughts), Theme: Luck, Fate, Perspective, Page 117
Amidst the grueling reality, dreams offer Santiago refuge, tethering him to symbols of youth, strength, and peace.
Dreams and Memory
Santiago’s recurring dreams of lions on an African beach weave a powerful motif of youth, harmony, and inner peace, contrasting his harsh reality.
“He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences… He only dreamed of places now and the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago), Theme: Dreams, Memory, Youth, Peace, Lions, Love, Page 25
In his later years, Santiago’s subconscious drifts from conflict toward images of serene strength and affection.
“He lived along that coast now every night and in his dreams he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats come riding through it. He smelled the tar and oakum of the deck as he slept and he smelled the smell of Africa that the land breeze brought at morning.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago’s dreams), Theme: Dreams, Memory, Africa, Sensory Detail, Page 24
“He did not dream of the lions but instead of a vast school of porpoises that stretched for eight or ten miles… they would leap high into the air and return into the same hole they had made in the water when they leaped.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago’s dream at sea), Theme: Dreams, Nature, Life Force, Page 81
“Then he dreamed that he was in the village on his bed and there was a norther and he was very cold and his right arm was asleep because his head had rested on it instead of a pillow.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago’s dream at sea), Theme: Dreams, Reality Intrusion, Physicality, Page 81
“After that he began to dream of the long yellow beach and he saw the first of the lions come down onto it in the early dark and then the other lions came and he rested his chin on the wood of the bows where the ship lay anchored… he waited to see if there would be more lions and he was happy.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago’s dream at sea), Theme: Dreams, Lions, Peace, Youth, Happiness, Page 81
“Up the road, in his shack, the old man was sleeping again. He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him. The old man was dreaming about the lions.”
~Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, (Character: Narrator about Santiago), Theme: Dreams, Lions, Peace, Endings, Connection, Page 127
The novella closes with Santiago finding solace in his dreams, a testament to the enduring refuge of memory.
Conclusion: The Unconquered Spirit
These 52 unique quotes carve out the raw, unyielding heart of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Through Santiago’s solitary struggle, the novella lays bare timeless truths: endurance against relentless adversity, the delicate balance of pride and humility, a profound respect for nature’s dual nature, and the unconquerable spirit that endures despite devastating loss.
Santiago’s journey reminds us that true victory lies not in the prize but in the courage and grace forged in the fight.
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A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
We meticulously hauled these quotes from the Scribner; Reissue edition (May 5, 1995), ISBN-13: 978-0684801223. Like Santiago’s marlin, page numbers can slip through different printings’ nets! Always verify with your own copy to anchor your citations.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.