These thought-provoking Edgar Allan Poe quotes help you discover the mind of a literary genius and uncover the hidden meanings behind his most famous works, as you explore these captivating and timeless expressions of a mind that knew no bounds.
Best Edgar Allan Poe Quotes
Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality. Edgar Allan Poe
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. Edgar Allan Poe
The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? Edgar Allan Poe
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allan Poe
We loved with a love that was more than love. Edgar Allan Poe
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. Edgar Allan Poe
Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence. Edgar Allan Poe
I have great faith in fools self confidence my friends will call it. Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. Edgar Allan Poe
I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched. Edgar Allan Poe
Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul. The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of Artist. Edgar Allan Poe
There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion. Edgar Allan Poe
I have great faith in fools; self confidence my friends call it. Edgar Allan Poe
I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom. Edgar Allan Poe
To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness. Edgar Allan Poe
Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see. Edgar Allan Poe
It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream. Edgar Allan Poe
From childhood’s hour I have not been. As others were, I have not seen. As others saw, I could not awaken. My heart to joy at the same tone. And all I loved, I loved alone. Edgar Allan Poe
Lord, help my poor soul. Edgar Allan Poe
Sleep, those little slices of death how I loathe them. Edgar Allan Poe
The true genius shudders at incompleteness and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be. Edgar Allan Poe
Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute. Edgar Allan Poe
It is the nature of truth in general, as of some ores in particular, to be richest when most superficial. Edgar Allan Poe
Never to suffer would never to have been blessed. Edgar Allan Poe
In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me. Edgar Allan Poe
That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward. Edgar Allan Poe
All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry. Edgar Allan Poe
If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered. Edgar Allan Poe
Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence whether much that is glorious whether all that is profound does not spring from disease of thought from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. Edgar Allan Poe
It will be found, in fact, that the ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative never otherwise than analytic. Edgar Allan Poe
Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Edgar Allan Poe
I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat. Edgar Allan Poe
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. Edgar Allan Poe
And so being young and dipped in folly I fell in love with melancholy. Edgar Allan Poe
Stupidity is a talent for misconception. Edgar Allan Poe
It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream. Edgar Allan Poe
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. Edgar Allan Poe
I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. Edgar Allan Poe
I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty. Edgar Allan Poe
And all I loved, I loved alone. Edgar Allen Poe
The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world. Edgar Allan Poe
Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Edgar Allan Poe
That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful. Edgar Allan Poe
I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active not more happy nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. Edgar Allan Poe
The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led. Edgar Allan Poe
Invisible things are the only realities. Edgar Allan Poe
The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true. Edgar Allan Poe
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. Edgar Allan Poe
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger portion of the truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant. Edgar Allan Poe
The true genius shudders at incompleteness imperfection and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said. Edgar Allan Poe
With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion. Edgar Allan Poe
I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind. Edgar Allen Poe
I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and the atrocity. Edgar Allan Poe
The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world. Edgar Allan Poe
There is something in the unselfish and self sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man. Edgar Allan Poe
Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence. Edgar Allan Poe
Of puns it has been said that those who most dislike them are those who are least able to utter them. Edgar Allan Poe
With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion. Edgar Allan Poe
I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect in terror. Edgar Allan Poe
There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told. Edgar Allan Poe
The rudiment of verse may, possibly, be found in the spondee. Edgar Allan Poe
I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty. Edgar Allan Poe
Man’s real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so. Edgar Allan Poe
I dread the events of the future, not in themselves but in their results. Edgar Allen Poe
A strong argument for the religion of Christ is this that offences against Charity are about the only ones which men on their death beds can be made not to understand but to feel as crime. Edgar Allan Poe
That which you mistake for madness is but an overacuteness of the senses. Edgar Allan Poe
In one case out of a hundred a point is excessively discussed because it is obscure; in the ninety nine remaining it is obscure because it is excessively discussed. Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words. Edgar Allan Poe
There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of song writing is, I think, one of the few. Edgar Allan Poe
To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary. Edgar Allan Poe
I need scarcely observe that a poem deserves its title only inasmuch as it excites, by elevating the soul. The value of the poem is in the ratio of this elevating excitement. Edgar Allan Poe
The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? Edgar Allan Poe
The generous Critic fann’d the Poet’s fire, And taught the world with reason to admire. Edgar Allan Poe
It is a happiness to wonder; it is a happiness to dream. Edgar Allan Poe
There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told. Edgar Allan Poe
Now this is the point. You fancy me a mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded. Edgar Allan Poe
I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind. Edgar Allan Poe
There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Edgar Allan Poe
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger, portion of truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant. Edgar Allan Poe
Even in the grave, all is not lost. Edgar Allan Poe
And all I loved, I loved alone. Edgar Allan Poe
Yet mad I am not and very surely do I not dream. Edgar Allan Poe
We loved with a love that was more than love. Edgar Allan Poe
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their gray visions they obtain glimpses of eternity, and thrill, in waking, to find that they have been upon the verge of the great secret. In snatches, they learn something of the wisdom which is of good, and more of the mere knowledge which is of evil. Edgar Allan Poe
Deep in earth my love is lying/And I must weep alone. Edgar Allan Poe
Convinced myself, I seek not to convince. Edgar Allen Poe
That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward. Edgar Allan Poe
Every poem should remind the reader that they are going to die. Edgar Allen Poe
Man’s real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so. Edgar Allan Poe
To die laughing must be the most glorious of all glorious deaths! Edgar Allan Poe
Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence. Edgar Allan Poe
A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it. Edgar Allan Poe
Stupidity is a talent for misconception. Edgar Allan Poe
True, nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am, but why will say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. Edgar Allan Poe
Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear. Edgar Allan Poe
And I fell violently on my face. Edgar Allan Poe
Sleep, those little slices of death how I loathe them. Edgar Allan Poe
The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed, at once, to take its flight from my body; and a more than fiendish malevolence, gin nurtured, thrilled every fibre of my frame. Edgar Allan Poe
It is the nature of truth in general, as of some ores in particular, to be richest when most superficial. Edgar Allan Poe
Leave my loneliness unbroken. Edgar Allan Poe
Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute. Edgar Allan Poe
And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all. Edgar Allen Poe
A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it. Edgar Allan Poe
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore. Edgar Allan Poe
All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry. Edgar Allan Poe
Art is to look at not to criticize. Edgar Allen Poe
There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of songwriting is, I think, one of the few. Edgar Allan Poe
In beauty of face no maiden ever equaled her. It was the radiance of an opium dream an airy and spirit lifting vision more wildly divine than the fantasies which hovered about the slumbering souls of the daughters of Delos. Edgar Allan Poe
The idea of God, infinity, or spirit stands for the possible attempt at an impossible conception. Edgar Allan Poe
Experience has shown, and a true philosophy will always show, that a vast, perhaps the larger, portion of truth arises from the seemingly irrelevant. Edgar Allan Poe
Men have called me mad; but the question is not settled whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence whether much that is glorious whether all that is profound does not spring from disease of thought from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who only dream by night. In their gray visions they obtain glimpses of eternity, and thrill, in waking, to find that they have been upon the verge of the great secret. In snatches, they learn something of the wisdom which is of good, and more of the mere knowledge which is of evil. They penetrate, however rudderless or compassless, into the vast ocean of the light ineffable. Edgar Allan Poe
I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. Edgar Allan Poe
All that we see and seem is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allen Poe
There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm. Edgar Allan Poe
Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made. Edgar Allan Poe
Invisible things are the only realities. Edgar Allan Poe
The ninety and nine are with dreams, content, but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true. Edgar Allan Poe
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest. Edgar Allan Poe
A man’s grammar, like Caesar’s wife, should not only be pure, but above suspicion of impurity. Edgar Allan Poe
The depth lies in the valleys where we seek her, and not upon the mountain tops where she is found. Edgar Allan Poe
Villains! I shrieked. Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! Tear up the planks! Here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart! Edgar Allan Poe
To observe attentively is to remember distinctly. Edgar Allan Poe
Mysteries force a man to think, and so injure his health. Edgar Allan Poe
It is far more easy to get up than to come down. Edgar Allan Poe
The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls. Edgar Allan Poe
He who pleases is of more importance to his fellow man than he who instructs. Edgar Allen Poe
When, indeed, men speak of Beauty, they mean, precisely, not a quality, as is supposed, but an effect they refer, in short, just to that intense and pure elevation of soul not of intellect, or of heart. Edgar Allan Poe
There are few persons who have not, at some period of their lives, amused themselves in retracing the steps by which particular conclusions of their own minds have been attained. Edgar Allan Poe
The rain came down upon my head Unshelter’d. And the wind rendered me mad and deaf and blind. Edgar Allan Poe
I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty. Edgar Allan Poe
The idea of God, infinity, or spirit stands for the possible attempt at an impossible conception. Edgar Allan Poe
And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the sense? Edgar Allan Poe
But as, in ethics, evil is a consequence of good, so, in fact, out of joy is sorrow born. Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of today, or the agonies which are have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been. Edgar Alan Poe
Because it was my crime to have no one on Earth who cared for me, or loved me. Edgar Allan Poe
We gave the Future to the winds, and slumbered tranquilly in the Present, weaving the dull world around us into dreams. Edgar Allan Poe
If we cannot comprehend God in his visible works, how then in his inconceivable thoughts, that call the works into being? Edgar Allan Poe
Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or silly action for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgement, to violate that which is Law, merely because we understand it to be such? Edgar Allan Poe
The best things in life make you sweaty. Edgar Allan Poe
