Just as the Intellect concerns itself with Truth, so Taste informs us of the Beautiful while the Moral Sense is regardful of Duty. Of this latter, while Conscience teaches the obligation, and Reason the expediency, Taste contents herself with displaying the charms: – waging war upon Vice solely on the ground of her deformity – her disproportion – her animosity to the fitting, to the appropriate, to the harmonious – in a word, to Beauty.
Edgar Allan Poe
Intellect, Morality, Aesthetics, Philosophical Insight, Ethical Reflection, Artistic Appreciation
Edgar Allan Poe’s Quotes On Topics
Artistic Principle | Human Psychology | Caution | Natural Beauty | Philosophical Observation | Psychological Understanding | Spiritual Insight | History | Understanding | Qualities | Societal Change | Divinity | Social Conflict | Will | Intense Love | Emotional Connection | Complexity | Courage | Existential Truth | Pride | More
More Edgar Allan Poe Quotes
“Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries.” Edgar Allan Poe
Books, Luxury, Wealth, Philosophical Observation, Intellectual Value, Social Insight
Edgar Allan Poe Books, Luxury, Wealth, Philosophical Observation, Intellectual Value, Social Insight“One night as I sat, half stupefied, in a den of more than infamy, my attention.” Edgar Allan Poe
Introspection, Environment, Emotional Reflection, Philosophical Insight, Narrative Tension
Edgar Allan Poe Introspection, Environment, Emotional Reflection, Philosophical Insight, Narrative Tension“And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? – now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” Edgar Allan Poe
Madness, Perception, Sound, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Complexity, Psychological Horror
Edgar Allan Poe Madness, Perception, Sound, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Complexity, Psychological Horror“We grew in age – and love – together Roaming the forest, and the wild; My breast her shield in wintry weather – And, when the friendly sunshine smiled, And she would mark the opening skies, I saw no Heaven – but in her eyes.” Edgar Allan Poe
Love, Nature, Growth, Poetic Imagery, Emotional Connection, Philosophical Reflection
Edgar Allan Poe Love, Nature, Growth, Poetic Imagery, Emotional Connection, Philosophical Reflection“I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.” Edgar Allan Poe
Folly, Self-assuredness, Humor, Philosophical Insight, Social Critique, Character Observation
Edgar Allan Poe Folly, Self-assuredness, Humor, Philosophical Insight, Social Critique, Character Observation“In spite of the air of fable the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as fable. I thence concluded that the facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity.” Edgar Allan Poe
Perception, Narrative, Truth, Philosophical Insight, Human Belief, Storytelling
Edgar Allan Poe Perception, Narrative, Truth, Philosophical Insight, Human Belief, Storytelling“The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led.” Edgar Allan Poe
Mob Mentality, Perception, Imagination, Philosophical Insight, Social Dynamics, Psychological Observation
Edgar Allan Poe Mob Mentality, Perception, Imagination, Philosophical Insight, Social Dynamics, Psychological Observation“In the strange anomaly of my existence, feelings with me had never been of the heart, and my passions always were of the mind.” Edgar Allan Poe
Existence, Emotion, Intellect, Philosophical Insight, Psychological Complexity, Poetic Expression
Edgar Allan Poe Existence, Emotion, Intellect, Philosophical Insight, Psychological Complexity, Poetic Expression“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?” Edgar Allan Poe
Humanity, Morality, Self-awareness, Philosophical Observation, Cognitive Dissonance, Social Behavior
Edgar Allan Poe Humanity, Morality, Self-awareness, Philosophical Observation, Cognitive Dissonance, Social Behavior“Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance.” Edgar Allan Poe
Memory, Sorrow, Eternity, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Resonance, Poetic Imagery
Edgar Allan Poe Memory, Sorrow, Eternity, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Resonance, Poetic Imagery“And his brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care; and, in the few furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with mankind, and a longing after solitude.” Edgar Allan Poe
Thought, Emotion, Isolation, Philosophical Insight, Character Analysis, Poetic Imagery
Edgar Allan Poe Thought, Emotion, Isolation, Philosophical Insight, Character Analysis, Poetic Imagery“We stand upon the brink of a precipice. We peer into the abyss – we grow sick and dizzy. Our first impulse is to shrink away from the danger. Unaccountably we remain... it is but a thought, although a fearful one, and one which chills the very marrow of our bones with the fierceness of the delight of its horror. It is merely the idea of what would be our sensations during the sweeping precipitancy of a fall from such a height... for this very cause do we now the most vividly desire it.” Edgar Allan Poe
Fear, Desire, Mortality, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Conflict, Existential Reflection
Edgar Allan Poe Fear, Desire, Mortality, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Conflict, Existential Reflection“I am come of a race noted for vigor of fancy and ardor of passion. 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. They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” Edgar Allan Poe
Heritage, Creativity, Madness, Philosophical Reflection, Existential Inquiry, Emotional Depth
Edgar Allan Poe Heritage, Creativity, Madness, Philosophical Reflection, Existential Inquiry, Emotional Depth“I do believe God gave me a spark of genius, but he quenched it in misery.” Edgar Allan Poe
Genius, Suffering, Belief, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Depth, Existential Reflection
Edgar Allan Poe Genius, Suffering, Belief, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Depth, Existential Reflection“If in many of my productions terror has been the thesis, I maintain that terror is not of Germany, but of the soul.” Edgar Allan Poe
Terror, Creativity, Philosophy, Emotional Truth, Artistic Expression, Existential Reflection
Edgar Allan Poe Terror, Creativity, Philosophy, Emotional Truth, Artistic Expression, Existential Reflection“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” Edgar Allan Poe
Reality, Perception, Illusion, Philosophical Reflection, Existential Inquiry, Poetic Metaphor
Edgar Allan Poe Reality, Perception, Illusion, Philosophical Reflection, Existential Inquiry, Poetic Metaphor“I have made no money. I am as poor now as ever I was in my life – except in hope, which is by no means bankable.” Edgar Allan Poe
Wealth, Hope, Poverty, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Struggle, Existential Commentary
Edgar Allan Poe Wealth, Hope, Poverty, Philosophical Insight, Emotional Struggle, Existential Commentary“There may be a class of beings, human once, but now invisible to humanity, to whom, from afar, our disorder may seem order – our unpicturesqueness picturesque, in a word, the earth-angels, for whose scrutiny more especially than our own, and for whose death – refined appreciation of the beautiful, may have been set in array by God the wide landscape-gardens of the hemispheres.” Edgar Allan Poe
Humanity, Perception, Beauty, Philosophical Insight, Spiritual Reflection, Artistic Interpretation
Edgar Allan Poe Humanity, Perception, Beauty, Philosophical Insight, Spiritual Reflection, Artistic Interpretation