Most of us, I suppose, are a little nervous of the sea. No matter what its smiles may be, we doubt its friendship.

The quote captures a paradox of human responses to the natural world: we are drawn to the sea’s surface charm—calm weather, glittering light, the promise of freedom—while simultaneously suspecting that this friendliness is only temporary. Tomlinson suggests that our unease is not irrational but a recognition of the sea’s fundamental otherness and power. “Friendship” implies reciprocity and care; the sea offers neither, only conditions that may change without warning. The line therefore becomes a compact meditation on nature’s indifference and on the limits of human projection: we may read moods into the ocean, but we cannot safely trust them.