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

“The ship and all in it are imbued with the spirit of Eld. The crew glide to and fro like the ghosts of buried centuries; their eyes have an eager and uneasy meaning; and when their fingers fall athwart my path in the wild glare of the battle-lanterns, I feel as I have never felt before, although I have been all my life a dealer in antiquities, and have imbibed the shadows of fallen columns at Balbec, and Tadmor, and Persepolis, until my very soul has become a ruin.”

SoulFearMysteryTerrorRuinsIntrospectionGhostsAntiquityFear Of The UnknownThe Unknown
Book:Ms. Found in a Bottle - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
Create image

“Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door; — Darkness there, and nothing more.Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you"— here I opened wide the door; — Darkness there, and nothing more.”

SoulDarknessForgiveness
Book:The Raven
Create image

“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

“THE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”

KnowsWellsIdeasSoulDoneWould BeFeltFailingRiskThousandThreatRevengeMy SoulInsultInjuryLengthRetributionUtteranceImpunityAvengers
Book:Poetry and Tales
Create image

“One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree; — hung it with the tears streaming from my eyes, and with the bitterest remorse at my heart; — hung it because I knew that it had loved me, and because I felt it had given me no reason of offence; — hung it because I knew that in so doing I was committing a sin — a deadly sin that would so jeopardize my immortal soul as to place it — if such a thing were possible — even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God.”

IfsHeartSoulReasonEyeGivenFeltSinMorningTreeBloodTearsMy HeartTerribleMercyInfiniteNecksNo ReasonImmortalHungRemorseLimbsMercifulOffenceStreamingImmortal SoulDeadly SinsJeopardizeNooses
Author:Edgar Allan Poe
Create image

“Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore- Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore- Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore.”

IfsSaidStillsSoulEvilNamesHeavenSorrowBirdDevilAngelProphetAdoreRadiantMaidensRavensNevermoreLenore
Book:A Classic Crime Collection
Create image

“After reading all that has been written, and after thinking all that can be thought, on the topics of God and the soul, the man who has a right to say that he thinks at all, will find himself face to face with the conclusion that, on these topics, the most profound thought is that which can be the least easily distinguished from the most superficial sentiment.”

ThinkingMenHas BeensSoulGodFacesReadingWrittenAtheismProfoundPositive AtheismConclusionMeaning Of LifeSentimentsSuperficialTopicsDistinguishedFace To FaceProfound Thoughts
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated)
Create image

“And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming Of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamplight o'er him streaming Throws his shadow on the floor, And my soul from out that shadow, That lies floating on the floor, Shall be lifted - nevermore.”

StillsSoulDreamEyeLyingDoorsSittingShadowMy SoulHis EyesDemonFloatingChamberSeemingRavensStreamingNevermoreSitting StillDead Zone
Author:Edgar Allan Poe
Create image

“Thy soul shall find itself alone ’Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone— Not one, of all the crowd, to pry Into thine hour of secrecy. Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness—for then The spirits of the dead who stood In life before thee are again In death around thee—and their will Shall overshadow thee: be still. [...]”

StillsSoulSpiritHoursDarkLonelinessSolitudeSilentCrowdsTheeGraySecrecyTombstoneDark Thoughts
Book:The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated Edition): The Raven, Tamerlane, Ulalume, Annabel Lee, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-tale Heart, Berenice, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Philosophy of Composition, The Poetic Principle, Eureka…
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

“I must perish in this deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul. I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect-in terror. In this unnerved-in this pitiable condition-I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR.”

FeelsMaySoulReasonTogetherLostResultsStruggleConditionsEffectsEventsDangerPeriodsAbsolutesTerrorFollyAbandonDreadSooner Or LaterIncidentsGrimAgitationAbhorrence
Book:18 Best Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
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 heartone of the indivisible primary faculties, or sentiments, which give direction to the character of Man.”

MenGivingHumansSoulCharacterMy SoulPrimariesImpulseFacultySentimentsPrimitiveHuman HeartIndivisibleBlack CatSoul LifePerverseness
Book:The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: With Notices of His Life and Genius
Create image