After my first dive everything else became just another surface interval.
— Unknown
- Ocean, n.
- A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man — who has no gills.
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
Wall diving [is] like a lorry trip past Harrod’s during rush hour, but with more fish.
— British Diving Journal
- Virgil “Bud” Brigman:
- Linds, I want you to stay away from that guy. I mean it.
- Alan “Hippy” Carnes:
- The guy is gone. Did you see his hands?
- Lindsay Brigman:
- What? He got the shakes?
- Virgil “Bud” Brigman:
- Look, he’s operating on his own. He’s cut off from his chain of command. He’s showing signs of pressure-induced psychosis, and he’s got a nuclear weapon. So, as a personal favour to me, will you try to put your tongue in neutral for a while?
- Alan “Hippy” Carnes:
- I got to tell you, I give this whole thing a sphincter-factor of about 9.5.
— Ed Harris, Todd Graff, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; The Abyss
Do you think it’s a coincidence that insurance companies ask people if they do the sorts of stuff we do?
— Mike Mengason (after a discussion of cavern diving and ice climbing)
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I’d call me us.
— Ogden Nash
It is a scientific fact that the human body cannot survive for more than 72 hours without water, however, for some of us anything more than 20 minutes is pushing it.
— An old Scubapro advertisement