Quotessence
Home / Authors / Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenSoulIfsDreamPoetryHeartLifeThoughtfulHas BeensLoveNightWorldHumansLiteratureMindShouldMayBookLongStills

Famous Edgar Allan Poe Quotes

“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.'”

MenShouldArtSoulArtistNamesTermNaturePerceptionArt IsSacredMereSensesPerceiveAccurateImitationVeilsReproduction
Book:The Unknown Poe: An Anthology of Fugitive Writings
Create image

“Yet I am not more sure that my soul lives, than I am that perverseness is one of the primitive impulses of the human heart - one of the indivisible primary faculties, or sentiments, which give direction to the character of Man. Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a 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 judgment, to violate that which is Law, merely because we understand it to be such?”

KnowsMenGivingShouldHumansHeartSoulReasonCharacterActionLawFoundJudgmentHundredSillyTeethMy SoulPrimariesImpulseFacultySentimentsPerpetualPrimitiveHuman HeartInclinationIndivisibleSoul LifePerverseness
Book:The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Create image

“The Merchant, to Secure His Treasure The merchant, to secure his treasure, Conveys it in a borrowed name: Euphelia serves to grace my measure, But Cloe is my real flame. My softest verse, my darling lyre Upon Euphelia's toilet lay - When Cloe noted her desire That I should sing, that I should play. My lyre I tune, my voice I raise, But with my numbers mix my sighs; And whilst I sing Euphelia's praise, I fix my soul on Cloe's eyes. Fair Cloe blushed; Euphelia frowned: I sung, and gazed; I played, and trembled: And Venus to the Loves around Remarked how ill we all dissembled.”

LoveShouldRealSoulPlayEyeDesireNamesVoiceNumbersGraceFairsPraiseRaisesLaysIllTreasureSecureMy SoulFlamesTunesVersesSighToiletsDarlingBorrowedMerchantsVenus
Author:Edgar Allan Poe
Create image

“We now demand the light artillery of the intellect; we need the curt, the condensed, the pointed, the readily diffused - in place of the verbose, the detailed, the voluminous, the inaccessible. On the other hand, the lightness of the artillery should not degenerate into pop-gunnery - by which term we may designate the character of the greater portion of the newspaper press - their sole legitimate object being the discussion of ephemeral matters in an ephemeral manner.”

NeedsShouldMayMatterCharacterHandsLightTermGreaterObjectsDemandPressesPopsIntellectNewspapersJournalismJournalistDiscussionPortionsSoleEphemeralDegeneratesLightnessInaccessibleArtillery
Book:The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: Literati
Create image

“If any ambitious man have a fancy to revolutionize, at one effort, the universal world of human thought, human opinion, and human sentiment, the opportunity is his own -- the road to immortal renown lies straight, open, and unencumbered before him. All that he has to do is to write and publish a very little book. Its title should be simple -- a few plain words -- My Heart Laid Bare. But -- this little book must be true to its title.”

IfsMenWorldShouldWritingHumansHeartLittlesBookLyingOpportunitySimpleEffortOpinionHonestyMy HeartUniversalBeing TrueTitlesFancyImmortalSentimentsAmbitiousPublishRebelliousHuman ThoughtRenownAmbitious Man
Book:The Portable Edgar Allan Poe
Create image