Face it, you probably mostly recognize the name Edgar Allan Poe more from a formative literature class than your own free-time reading. Unless you read a lot of poetry in your spare time–more power to you if that’s your thing. Anyway, born without the “Allan” in his name, Poe lived from the years 1809 to 1849. He’s known for being one of the earliest short story writers as well as birthing detective fiction. Also that whole being super macabre thing. Poe would be the first American author to make a living just off of his writing alone. You might know him for his use of raven imagery and the Red Death. We definitely all know that one person who thought the Red Death was an actual plague and not a reference. Anyway, here are some fun Edgar Allan Poe quotes.
Edgar Allan Poe Quotes
On the Abyss & Sleep
“I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect – in terror.”
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.”
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
“Sleep, those little slices of death — how I loathe them.”
“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
On Being & Beauty
“That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward.”
“I have great faith in fools – self-confidence my friends will call it.”
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
“Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.”
“To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.”
“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.”
“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.”
On Writing
“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.”
“I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty.”
On Emotion
“Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute.”
“I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched.”
“And all I loved, I loved alone.”
“Man’s real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.”
Like Poe? See if you can identify his works and stuff here.
About the Author:
Kyler is a content writer at Sporcle living in Seattle, and is currently studying at the University of Washington School of Law. He's been writing for Sporcle since 2019; sometimes the blog is an excellent platform to answer random personal questions he has about the world. Most of his free time is spent drinking black coffee like water.