“Nihilism had no bottom. For thousands of years every philosopher had stood on the shore of this sunless sea, diving for pearls and never finding them. All had seen that, since they could not find bottom, they must assume it.”
The Education of Henry Adams (1907)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Henry Adams 311
journalist, historian, academic, novelist 1838–1918Related quotes

Canto XIX, lines 58–63 (tr. Sinclair).
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Paradiso

“For at the bottom of every social problem we will find a social wrong.”
Source: Social Problems (1883), Ch. 1 : The Increasing Importance of Social Questions
Context: The intelligence required for the solving of social problems is not a thing of the mere intellect. It must be animated with the religious sentiment and warm with sympathy for human suffering. It must stretch out beyond self-interest, whether it be the self-interest of the few or of the many. It must seek justice. For at the bottom of every social problem we will find a social wrong.

“With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls.”
Shipbuilding, written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer
Song lyrics, Punch the Clock (1983)
Context: The boy said 'Dad they're going to take me to task
But I'll be back by Christmas'
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The result of this shipbuilding
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls.

64 : Forgive and Forget, p. 110.
The Everything and the Nothing (1963)

A Little Book in C Major, New York, NY, John Lane Company (1916) p. 76
1910s

“He had the look of one who had drunk the cup of life and found a dead beetle at the bottom.”