Beach reads season is finally here! These 10 literary quotes about the sea will inspire you to get out your swimsuit, head to the beach (or pool), and bring a good book to keep you company.

1. “She would be half a planet away, floating in a turquoise sea, dancing by moonlight to flamenco guitar.”―Janet Fitch, White Oleander

2. “I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.”―T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

3. “Look at that sea, girls—all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.”―Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

4. “I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.”―Anais Nin

5. “I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.”―Bram Stoker, Dracula

6. “The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too.”―Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

7. “I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.”―Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

8. “The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.”―Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

9. “My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.”

―Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

10. “Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.”―Hermann Broch