Herman Melville,
Mardi — Volume I/Chapter XI: Jarl Afflicted With The Lockjaw
(1849)
“ If ever again I launch whale-boat from sheer-plank of ship at sea, I shall take good heed, that my comrade be a sprightly fellow, with a rattle-box head. Be he never so silly, his very silliness, so long as he be lively at it, shall be its own excuse. ”
