"The earth is not round as a ball, but pear-shaped."

"It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculi…"

"The sea will grant each man new hope, and sleep will bring dreams of home."

"I have seen and I have heard, but I do not believe."

"Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."