100 Iconic Edgar Allan Poe Quotes From The Author Of Mystery And Macabre

Moumita Dutta
Dec 12, 2023 By Moumita Dutta
Originally Published on Feb 24, 2021
Edited by Jacob Fitzbright
Edgar Allan Poe, American author and poet

Edgar Allan Poe is said to be one of the most exemplary American gothic writers who had gathered millions of admirers and inspired contemporary and future gothic writers as well.

His works mainly focus on dreary and gothic themes of loneliness, death, love loss, and regret and have been skillfully portrayed in his most famous poems namely, 'Alone', 'Anabel Lee', 'A Dream Within A Dream', 'The Haunted Palace' and  'The Raven'.

To this day, his 'Tales Of Mystery and Imagination' has been regarded as one of the greatest literary gothic works in the field of Literature and Edgar Allan Poe quotes encompass everything from life, love, death, poems, and a lot more.

Here is a list of some of the most iconic Edgar Allan Poe quotes from his poems as well as some Edgar Allan Poe quotes from his life and other literary works.

This list of carefully curated Edgar Allan Poe quotes contains Edgar Allan Poe quotes about life, death, and literature; Edward Allan Poe quotes from the poems; greatest Edgar Allan Poe quotes; and famous Edgar Allan Poe quotes from his life.

If you like our content, check out Mary ShelleyQuotesand The Raven quotes.

Meaningful Edgar Allan Poe Quotes About Life And Literature

If you are looking for good Edgar Allan Poe quotes about composition, literature, beauty and life, you will simply love this list. These Edgar Allan Poe quotes have been carefully selected to reflect Poe's thoughts about life, literature, and everything surrounding it.

1. "Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

2. "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.

3. "The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

4. "And all I loved, I loved alone."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

5. "There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

6. "Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

7. "It is with literature as with law or empire – an established name is an estate in tenure, or a throne in possession."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

8. "Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

9. "Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

10. "Never to suffer would never to have been blessed."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

11. "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.

13. "Deep in earth my love is lying and I must weep alone."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

14. "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Eleanora'.

15. "Undue brevity degenerates into mere epigrammatism."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

16. "Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

17. "I am actuated by an ambition which I believe to be an honorable one — the ambition of serving the great cause of truth while endeavoring to forward the literature of the country."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Letter To Washington Poe'.

18. "Literature is the most noble of professions. In fact, it is about the only one fit for a man. For my own part, there is no seducing me from the path."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Letter To Frederick W. Thomas'.

19. "Sleep, those little slices of death — how I loathe them."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

20. "Thank Heaven! the crisis—The danger is past, And the lingering illness, Is over at last—And the fever called "Living," Is conquered at last."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'For Annie'.

21. "In reading some books we occupy ourselves chiefly with the thoughts of the author; in perusing others, exclusively with our own."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Marginalia'.

22. "Come! let the burial rite be read–the funeral song be sung!—An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young—A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Lenore'.

23. "To die laughing must be the most glorious of all glorious deaths!"

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'To Assignation'.

24. "A very short poem, while now and then producing a brilliant or vivid, never produces a profound or enduring, effect."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

25. "How many good books suffer neglect through the inefficiency of their beginnings!"

-Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe Poem Quotes

Here's a list of some famous  quotes from Edgar Allan Poe taken straight from his mind-blowing poems and essays. These Edgar Allan Poe quotes will give you a glimpse of his surreal poetic abilities. These are some of the favorite quotations by Edgar Allan Poe.

26. "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Raven'.

27. "From childhood’s hour I have not been, as others were—I have not seen, as others saw—I could not bring my passions from a common spring."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Alone'.

28. "Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, in there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Raven'.

29. "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'A Dream Within A Dream'.

30. "And all my days are trances, and all my nightly dreams are where thy grey eye glances and where thy footstep gleams— in what ethereal dances by what eternal streams."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'To One In Paradise'.

31. "For passionate love is still divine, I lov’d her as an angel might, With ray of the all living light, Which blazes upon Edis’ shrine."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Tamerlane'.

32. "Thou wast that all to me, love, for which my soul did pine —"

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'To One In Paradise'.

33. "Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door- Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, With such name as 'Nevermore.'"

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Raven'.

34. "Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'A Dream Within A Dream'.

35. "Yet if hope has flown away in a night, or in a day, in a vision, or in none, is it therefore the less gone?"

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'A Dream Within A Dream'.

36. "O, human love! Thou spirit given, on Earth, of all we hope in Heaven!"

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Tamerlane'.

37. "And so being young and dipt in folly, I fell in love with melancholy."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Romance'.

38. "A green isle in the sea, love, a fountain and a shrine, all wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers, and all the flowers were mine."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'To One In Paradise'.

42. "What a flood of new feelings gushed upon my soul, as I laid down the billet, and lifted my filial eyes to Heaven! Mother endearing name!"

-Edgar Allan Poe.

43. "My sorrow; I could not awaken my heart to joy at the same tone."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Alone'.

45. "Leave my loneliness unbroken."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Raven'.

46. "Fill with mingled cream and amber, I will drain that glass again. Such hilarious visions clamber through the chamber of my brain."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Lines On Ale'.

47. "Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore..."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Raven'.

The Greatest Edgar Allan Poe Quotes

Here's a list of some of the greatest Edgar Allan Poe quotes from his life and works.  These Edgar Allan Poe quotes have been hailed as the greatest ever by fans and critics alike.

48. "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, 'The Masque Of The Red Death'.

50. "It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Tell Tale Heart'.

51. "We loved with a love that was more than love… With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven coveted her and me."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Annabel Lee'.

52. "Art is to look at not to criticize."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

53. "Yet mad I am not… and very surely do I not dream."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Black Cat'.

54. "Arousing from the most profound of slumbers, we break the gossamer web of some dream. Yet in a second afterward, (so frail may that web have been) we remember not that we have dreamed."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Pit And The Pendulum'.

55. "I was never really insane except upon occasions where my heart was touched."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Letter To Maria Clemm'.

56. "That which you mistake for madness is but an over acuteness of the senses."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Tell Tale Heart'.

59. "Decorum – that bug-bear which deters so many from bliss until the opportunity for bliss has forever gone by."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Spectacles'.

61. "Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

62. "Invisible things are the only realities."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Loss Of Breath'.

63. "I intend to put up with nothing that I can put down."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

65. "Even in the grave, all is not lost."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

66. "I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

67. "The customs of the world are so many conventional follies."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Spectacles'.

68. "Every poem should remind the reader that they are going to die."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Spectacles'.

69. "You fancy me a mad. Madmen know nothing."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Tell Tale Heart'.

70. "The pleasure derived from the contemplation of the unity resulting from plot, is far more intense than is ordinarily supposed."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

71. "And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Masque Of The Red Death'.

72. "There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Masque Of The Red Death'.

73. "I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

74. "To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

75. "There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

76. "That which you mistake for madness is but an over-acuteness of the senses."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

77. "I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

78. "With me, poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

79. "I dread the events of the future, not in themselves but in their results."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

80. "We loved with a love that was more than love."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

Famous Edgar Allan Poe Quotes From His Life

Edgar Allan Poe has preached the world about life from his own different perspective. Lets look at some  enlightening Edgar Allan Poe quotes from his life.

81. "I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

82. "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, 'The Black Cat'.

83. "The most natural, and, consequently, the truest and most intense of the human affections are those which arise in the heart as if by electric sympathy."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Spectacles'.

84. "Love like mine can never be gotten over."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Letter To Maria Clemm'.

85. "Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of to-day, or the agonies which have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Berenice'.

86. "To observe attentively is to remember distinctly."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

87. "Since that period I have never seen nor heard your name without a shiver half of delight half of anxiety."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Letter To Sarah Helen Whitman'.

88. "Years of love have been forgot, in the hatred of a minute."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

90. "If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Marginilia',

91. "Whether people grow fat by joking, or whether there is something in fat itself which predisposes to a joke, I have never been quite able to determine."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Hop-Frog',

92. "Convinced myself, I seek not to convince."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Berenice'.

93. "I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

94. "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, 'Marginilia',

95. "Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

96. "In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Ligeia'.

97. "All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry."

-Edgar Allan Poe.

98. "I have great faith in fools — self-confidence my friends will call it."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Marginalia'.

99. "That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'Marginalia'.

100. "Because I feel that, in the Heavens above, The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, among their burning terms of love, None so devotional as that of ‘Mother."

-Edgar Allan Poe, 'To My Mother',

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Edgar Allan Poe quotes then why not take a look at ['Dr Jeykll And Mr Hyde' quotes] or 'Frankenstein' monster quotes.

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Written by Moumita Dutta

Bachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management

Moumita Dutta picture

Moumita DuttaBachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management

A content writer and editor with a passion for sports, Moumita has honed her skills in producing compelling match reports and stories about sporting heroes. She holds a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University, alongside a postgraduate diploma in Sports Management.

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