50 Emily Dickinson Quotes From The Master Of Classic Literature

A true master of great American literature, let these Emily Dickinson quotes serve as your inspiration today.

Emily Dickinson left an indelible mark on American literature.

Despite her unusual life of self-imposed social seclusion, Dickinson was a prolific writer whose unique style greatly influenced the direction of 20th-century poetry.

Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Dickinson was educated at Amherst Academy (now Amherst College) and proved to be a bright and conscientious student.

She began writing as a teenager and was both a keen artist and an accomplished musician.

Dickinson created nearly 1800 poems, with many of them dealing with themes of death and immortality.

Her careful words take on a whole new meaning and invite us to savor the richness of life in even the littlest things.

Emily Dickinson died on May 15, 1886, in Amherst, Massachusetts at the age of 55.

While she was a prolific poet, only a handful of her work was published during her lifetime.

The first volume of her poetry was published in 1890, four years after her death.

Below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and beautiful Emily Dickinson quotes, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Top 10 Emily Dickinson Quotes

1. “A mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.” – Emily Dickinson

2. “We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise; And then, if we are true to plan, Our statures touch the skies.” – Emily Dickinson

3. “Your absence insanes me so– I do not feel so peaceful, when you are gone from me.” ― Emily Dickinson

4. “We turn not older with years but newer every day.” – Emily Dickinson

5. “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” ― Emily Dickinson

6. “I know nothing in the world that has much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it until it begins to shine.” – Emily Dickinson

7. “Hold dear to your parents for it is a scary and confusing world without them.” – Emily Dickinson

8. “That it will never come again is what makes life sweet. Dwell in possibility. Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” ― Emily Dickenson

9. “Opinion is a fitting thing but truth outlasts the sun – if then we cannot own them both, possess the oldest one.” ― Emily Dickinson

10. “Truth is such a rare thing, it is delighted to tell it.” – Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson quotes that will inspire you to slow down and see the world in a new light

11. “We outgrow love like other things and put it in a drawer, till it an antique fashion shows like costumes grandsires wore.” ― Emily Dickinson

12. “Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath.” – Emily Dickinson

13. “You cannot fold a flood and put it in a drawer, because the winds would find it out and tell your cedar floor.” ― Emily Dickinson

14. “Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door.” ― Emily Dickinson

15. “Surgeons must be very careful when they take the knife! Underneath their fine incisions. Stirs the Culprit Life!” – Emily Dickinson

16. “I dwell in possibility.” – Emily Dickinson

17. “To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime.” –  Emily Dickinson

18. “Life is a spell so exquisite that everything conspires to break it.” – Emily Dickinson

19. “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry… Is there any other way?” ― Emily Dickinson

20. “He soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” –    Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson quotes to help you savor the richness of life

21. “The heart wants what it wants — or else it does not care.” – Emily Dickinson

22. “Forever is composed of nows.” – Emily Dickinson

23. “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.” – Emily Dickinson

24. “Old age comes on suddenly, and not gradually as is thought.” ― Emily Dickinson

25. “The pedigree of honey does not concern the bee; A clover, any time, to him is aristocracy.” ― Emily Dickinson

26. “A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King.” ― Emily Dickinson

27. “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves. You can gain more control over your life by paying closer attention to the little things.” – Emily Dickinson

28. “A morning without you is dwindled dawn.” – Emily Dickinson

29. “The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul–BOOKS.” ― Emily Dickinson

30. “I measure every grief I meet with narrow, probing eyes – I wonder if it weighs like mine – or has an easier size.” – Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson quotes that will inspire you to appreciate the beauty around you

31. “I don’t profess to be profound, but I do lay claim to common sense.” ― Emily Dickinson

32. “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words  and never stops at all.” ― Emily Dickinson

33. “Saying nothing sometimes says the most” -.Emily Dickinson

34. “Nature is a haunted house–but Art–is a house that tries to be haunted.” ― Emily Dickinson

35. “The sun just touched the morning; The morning, happy thing, supposed that he had come to dwell, and life would be all spring.” – Emily Dickinson

36. “The poet lights the light and fades away. But the light goes on and on.” ― Emily Dickinson

37. “These are the days when birds come back, a very few, a Bird or two, to take a backward look.” ― Emily Dickinson

38. “I would like more sisters, that the taking out of one, might not leave such stillness.” ― Emily Dickinson

40. “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.” ― Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson quotes that will inspire you to make a difference

41. “That Love is all there is, Is all we know of Love,It is enough, the freight should be proportioned to the groove.” ― Emily Dickinson

42. “The spreading wide my narrow hands to gather Paradise.” ― Emily Dickinson

43. “Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. Espousing the former is not defending the latter.” ― Emily Dickinson

44. “I work to drive the awe away, yet awe impels the work.” ― Emily Dickinson

45. “People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.” –  Emily Dickinson

46. “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me  the Carriage held but just Ourselves and Immortality.” ― Emily Dickinson

47. “Who has not found the heaven below will fail of it above. God’s residence is next to min, His furniture is love.” ― Emily Dickinson

48. “When Jesus tells us about his Father, we distrust him. When he shows us his Home, we turn away, but when he confides to us that he is ‘acquainted with Grief’, we listen, for that also is an Acquaintance of our own.” ― Emily Dickinson

49. “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.” – Emily Dickinson

50. “Affection is like bread, unnoticed till we starve, and then we dream of it, and sing of it, and paint it, when every urchin in the street has more than he can eat.” –  Emily Dickinson

Which of these Emily Dickinson quotes was your favorite?

Emily Dickinson will always be remembered as one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all time.

She continues to be a topic of discussion long after her death.

Although the breadth of her work became public only after her death, Dickinson wrote poetry of great power.

We hope her powerful words above have inspired you to slow down and see the world in a new light.

Did you enjoy these Emily Dickinson quotes?

Which of the quotes was your favorite?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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