Ocracoke Island Quotes

Also in Edenton was a young seaman named John Paul Jones. In spite of his youth, he was a capable captain, and it is thought that he commanded many of Hewes’ vessels on trips to Ocracoke and Portsmouth Island, as well as to the West Indies. There was much coming and going between Edenton and North Carolina’s Outer Banks even in those days. When war finally came, young John Paul Jones applied for a commission in the fighting ships of the colonists. There were two problems with his application. In the first place, it was thought that he did not have the experience or the skill for such an important position. In the second, the colonists had no navy, as such, with which to fight the British fleet—at that time the strongest in the world. Observing these problems, Jones’ friend and erstwhile employer came to the aid of both his protégé and his country. Incredible as it may seem, Joseph Hewes made a gift of all his ships to his country and thus helped to form the nucleus of the Yankee fleet. It is said that this magnanimous gesture, coupled with urgings from Hewes, persuaded the Continental Congress to name young John Paul Jones as a first lieutenant of the Continental Navy. History has proved the wisdom of this decision. The young lieutenant became what one historian has called “the greatest fighting naval commander America ever had.” His spirited “Sir, I’ve not yet begun to fight” is one of the proudest traditions of the United States Navy.

But death, even as grisly a death as his, could not lay Blackbeard to rest. Reports have put his restless spirit on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, scene of some of his rowdiest bacchanals where his favorite anchorage is known to this day as Teach’s Hole. 

It is not so difficult to be oneself. It is not so difficult to walk in someone else's shoes. The truly difficult thing is to approach all people and cultures as an alien from another planet would and judge them equally - without empathy.