Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Mankind
The world is like a vast sea: mankind like a vessel sailing on its tempestuous bosom. Our prudence is its sails, the sciences serve us for oars, good or bad fortune are the favourable or contrary winds, and judgment is the rudder; without this last, the vessel is tossed by every billow, and will find shipwreck in every breeze.
—Oliver Goldsmith