The 80 best famous phrases of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849) was an impressive writer, poet and journalist born in Boston, United States. He is considered one of the best authors in the genre of the short story and the Gothic novel.
His tales of horror and his foray into science-fiction brought him great posthumous recognition, but he lived through hardship and misery during his short but exceptional life. Near his death, he wanted to found his own newspaper, called "The Stylus", although he failed in the attempt.
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Incredible quotes by Edgar Allan Poe
Representative of surrealism, Poe influenced different genres of prose throughout the planet. To get closer to his work and his unparalleled mystique, we have decided to pay tribute to this genius of literature through the best phrases of Edgar Allan Poe.
Will you join us on this journey into darkness?
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1. Whatever its parentage, beauty, in its highest development, inevitably induces tears in sensitive souls.
A phrase that could well be the description of the stendhal syndrome.
2. In the disinterested love of an animal, in self-sacrifice, there is something that goes straight to the heart. of which he has often had the opportunity to verify the petty friendship and the fragile fidelity of Man natural.
The purity of the animal against the cruelty of the human being.
3. When a madman seems completely sensible, it is time to put him in a straitjacket.
Ironic phrase that can be interpreted in different ways.
4. The corruption of taste is part and parcel of the dollar industry.
About money and its influence on our lives.
5. Men of genius abound much more than is supposed. Actually, to fully appreciate the work of what we call genius, it is necessary to possess all the genius that he needed to produce the work.
On the unlimited creativity of the genius mind.
6. That man who fears to appear, and to be, when he tells him, a coward, is not truly brave.
Cowardice is the worst defect that can be possessed.
7. Science has not yet taught us whether or not madness is the highest level of intelligence.
One of those crazy phrases that leaves no one indifferent.
8. It is perhaps in music that the soul comes closest to the great goal for which it fights when it feels inspired by poetic feeling: the creation of supernatural beauty.
Great phrase about music and its unmatched aesthetic power.
9. In criticism I will be brave, severe and absolutely fair to friends and enemies. Nothing will change this purpose.
The justice of one's opinion must be unshakable.
10. All works of art must start at the end.
Curious reflection of Edgar Allan Poe.
11. If I were asked to define the term art in a few words, I would call it the reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature through the veil of the soul.
In one of his most famous phrases, Edgar Allan Poe tells us his opinion about what art is.
12. Everything we see or appear to be is only a dream within a dream.
Could existence be a mere concatenation of dreams? Maybe.
13. I have no faith in human perfection. Man is now more active, not happier, nor more intelligent, than he was 6,000 years ago.
Despite technical advances, human existence continues to be stained by the same laziness, vanity and inaction.
14. It is doubtful that the human race can create an enigma that the same human ingenuity cannot solve.
Human thought is found at this crossroads.
15. Death is faced with courage and then invited to a drink.
With chivalry and kindness.
16. I went insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.
One of Edgar Allan Poe's phrases most remembered for its brilliance.
17. I have great faith in fools, self-confidence my friends call it.
For an inveterate pessimist like Poe, any hint of grandstanding was sheer nonsense.
18. He believes only half of what you see and none of what you hear.
About credulity.
19. The only means of preserving man's freedom is always to be ready to die for it.
Passion for life is a sine qua non condition for not seeing one's freedom taken away.
20. Perhaps it is the very simplicity of the matter that leads us to error.
Sometimes Ockhan's razor just doesn't work.
21. The death of a beautiful woman is undoubtedly the most poetic subject in the world.
As Poe proposes, it is a fact that brings together various elements of special poetic and aesthetic significance.
22. All movement, whatever its cause, is creative.
Creative forces, always dynamic.
23. Do we not have in us a perpetual inclination, despite the excellence of our judgment, to violate what is the Law, simply because we understand that it is the Law?
On the human propensity to break the imposed norms.
24. We loved with a love that was more than love.
Love taken to the extreme is one of the essential characteristics of nineteenth-century romanticism.
25. For me, poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.
Without a doubt, we are before one of the great poets of the 19th century.
26. The believer is happy. He who doubts is wise.
Doubt is the characteristic sign of intelligent people.
27. On a terrifying night, restless I was rereading an ancient tome when I thought I heard a strange noise.
This is how “El Cuervo” begins, one of his best-known poems.
28. Years of love have been forgotten, in a minute's hate.
From love to hate there is only one step.
29. I got too inside my head and ended up losing my mind.
Some overly self-absorbed people end up paying a heavy price for their sanity.
30. I intend to bear as much as I can leave.
Romanticism consists of describing exacerbated feelings that end up making the person lose his composure.
31. Deep in the earth, my love lies. And I must cry alone.
Pain, anguish and depression are just some of the constants in his work.
32. A lie travels around the world while the truth puts on its boots.
A truth that is still valid today.
33. And being young and immersed in madness, I fell in love with melancholy.
One of the phrases that can best define the romantic genre.
34. I fear future events, not in themselves, but in their results.
A fear that many of us can share.
35. What you confuse with madness is nothing more than an overactivation of the senses.
The line between madness and genius is very fine.
36. All suffering comes from craving, attachment and desire.
An approach shared by many Eastern religions, especially Buddhism.
37. The most fearsome monsters are those that hide in our souls.
Many past and present horror authors share this idea.
38. Those who gossip with you will gossip about you.
Poe knew how to perfectly define some of the habits and social customs of his time.
39. Poetry is the rhythmic creation of beauty in words.
An excellent definition of poetry.
40. To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary.
Poetry makes us feel better about ourselves and takes us to fantastic places.
41. You think me crazy. Crazy people don't know anything. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded...
For Poe, there is always lucid sanity in madness.
42. Dying laughing must be the most glorious of all glorious deaths!
An original and particular approach to one of his favorite themes: death.
43. If you run out of ideas, go on your way; you will get there.
A piece of advice that we can put into practice any day of our lives.
44. If a man cheats on me once, I am ashamed of him; if he fools me twice, I feel sorry for myself.
An appointment that we can take as a precept in life.
45. It was night, and the rain was falling; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood.
Some of his stories present us with truly terrifying scenes.
46. The boundaries that divide life from death are shadowy and vague at best. Who will say where one ends and the other begins?
A suggestive approach that evokes the classic atmosphere of literary romanticism.
47. Those who dream by day are aware of many things that escape those who only dream at night.
Dreams were also one of the scenarios where Poe was inspired to create his works.
48. I intend not to put up with anything I can hold back.
The unfiltered expression of exacerbated feelings was common in the work of this great literary genius.
49. Always keep a bottle of liquor by your side. If a bird starts talking nonsense in the middle of the night, pour yourself a drink.
Poe is ironic in this quote about his great work "The Raven".
50. It is a happiness to marvel; it is a happiness to dream.
Although he was one of the greatest exponents of mid-century romanticism, Poe also left us with some vital and optimistic quotes.
51. All religion, my friend, simply grew out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.
A very advanced approach for his time.
52. I felt that I was breathing an atmosphere of sadness.
Paradigmatic example of romantic literature.
53. If a poem has not destroyed your soul; you have not experienced poetry.
Poetry makes us feel very intense emotions, both positive and negative.
54. False hope is better than no hope.
Some people might agree with this statement.
55. There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless that cannot be played without emotion.
Bold people often arouse our greatest admiration.
56. The senses perceive in nature through the veil of the soul.
Nature transmits us pure and necessary emotions.
57. Even in the grave, all is not lost.
A plea for optimism.
58. They call it hope, that fire of fire! It's nothing more than agony of desire.
A negative vision of hope.
59. The best things in life make you sweat.
A humorous approach from this great writer and poet.
60. Convinced of myself, I try not to convince.
Poe was a true language genius.
61. Stupidity is a talent for error.
The error can cause interesting content.
62. I wish I could be as mysterious as a cat.
A nice contribution from this master of mystery.
63. Men have called me crazy; but the question is not yet settled, whether or not madness is the highest intelligence.
As a romantic artist that he was, madness was always one of the essential themes in his work.
64. It is by no means an irrational fantasy that, in a future existence, we see what we think is our present existence as a dream.
Poe reflected deeply about the future and about what we call "existence".
65. True, nervous, very, very terribly nervous, I was and I am, but why do I say I'm angry? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed them, not dulled them. Above all, the sense of hearing was acute.
One of the passages that best relates the feeling of exacerbated anguish.
66. There are some secrets they don't allow to be told.
His novels are riddled with horrible secrets that should not be revealed.
67. The invisible things are the only realities.
The most important things in life are not things.
68. The art is to look so as not to criticize.
The creator must have complete freedom to create his art.
69. Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loathe them.
In any self-respecting romantic artist, death is one of the most addressed themes in his work.
70. The past is a pebble in my shoe.
For Poe, the past is a discomfort that should be overcome.
71. The most natural human affections and, consequently, the truest and most intense are those that arise in the heart.
A way of reflecting on what makes us human.
72. Each poem should remind the reader that they are going to die.
A tremendous approach to romantic poetry.
73. Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of its reality.
Poe also bequeathed us sublime approaches to linguistics.
74. Leave my loneliness intact.
Many of his verses take us to truly distressing and depressive scenes.
75. Without suffering, he would never have been blessed.
Suffering and anguish was for romantic authors a blessing in itself.
76. God's plots are perfect. The Universe is a plot of God.
An original approach to religion and the work of God.
77. Who cares how time goes by? I'm drinking beer today.
In addition to being one of the greatest literary geniuses of the 19th century, Poe had a great sense of humor.
78. The eye, like a broken mirror, multiplies the images of sadness.
An approach as depressive as beautiful.
79. I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.
In his work we find humorous scenes and passages full of irony.
80. To observe attentively is to remember clearly.
Poe was a great observer of the world around him.
