25 H. P. Lovecraft Quotes from the Horror Fiction Author

These H. P. Lovecraft quotes will take you out of this reality and into a world of weirdness, horror, and imagination.

H. P. Lovecraft, short for Howard Phillips Lovecraft, is known today as one of the greatest horror and science fiction writers of all time.

However, tragically, he never lived to see his own success.

Lovecraft was a prolific writer and wrote many short stories, novels, and novellas.

He wrote under several pen names and also worked as a ghostwriter.

However, he would never make a lot of money off of his writing and would die in poverty at the age of 46.

Since his death, Lovecraft’s work has become well-known and cherished throughout the world with many readers considering him one of the greatest horror writers along with the likes of Edgar Allan Poe.

We hope you enjoy these H. P. Lovecraft quotes about horror, writing, and imagination.

Don’t forget to also check out these Edgar Allan Poe quotes about life, love and happiness.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration.

Explore our complete collection of motivational quotes here.

H. P. Lovecraft quotes on writing

1. “Never explain anything.” — H. P. Lovecraft

2. “From even the greatest of horrors irony is seldom absent.” — H. P. Lovecraft

3. “One cannot be too careful in the selection of adjectives for descriptions.” — H. P. Lovecraft

4. “Creative minds are uneven, and the best of fabrics have their dull spots.” — H. P. Lovecraft

5. “No formal course in fiction writing can equal a close and observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce.” — H. P. Lovecraft

6. “I couldn’t live a week without a private library–indeed, I’d part with all my furniture and squat and sleep on the floor before I’d let go of the 1,500 or so books I possess.” — H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft quotes about horror

7. “To know the truths behind reality is a far greater burden.” — H. P. Lovecraft

8. “No new horror can be more terrible than the daily torture of the commonplace.” — H. P. Lovecraft

9. “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange eons, even death may die.” — H. P. Lovecraft

10. “The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.” — H. P. Lovecraft

11. “I have harnessed the shadows that stride from world to world to sow death and madness.” — H. P. Lovecraft

12. “I felt myself on the edge of the world; peering over the rim into a fathomless chaos of eternal night.” — H. P. Lovecraft

13. “That which is not known of does not trouble us, while an imagined but insubstantial peril does not harm us.” — H. P. Lovecraft

14. “Horrors, I believe, should be original – the use of common myths and legends being a weakening influence.” — H. P. Lovecraft

15. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” — H. P. Lovecraft

16. “The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them. They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.” — H. P. Lovecraft

17. “It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be left alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.” — H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft quotes about imagination

18. “Memories and possibilities are even more hideous than realities.” — H. P. Lovecraft

19. “Wise men have interpreted dreams, and the gods have laughed.” — H. P. Lovecraft

20. “I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.” — H. P. Lovecraft

21. “For I have always been a seeker, a dreamer, and a ponderer on seeking and dreaming.” — H. P. Lovecraft

22. “That which we call substance and reality is shadow and illusion, and that which we call shadow and illusion is substance and reality.” — H. P. Lovecraft

23. “All life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other.” — H. P. Lovecraft

24. “Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability. To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.” — H. P. Lovecraft

25. “Some of us awake in the night with strange phantasms of enchanted hills and gardens, of fountains that sing in the sun, of golden cliffs overhanging murmuring seas, of plains that stretch down to sleeping cities of bronze and stone, and of shadowy companies of heroes that ride caparisoned white horses along the edges of thick forests, and then we know that we have looked back through the ivory gates into that world of wonder that was ours before we were wise and unhappy.” — H. P. Lovecraft

What is your favorite H. P. Lovecraft story?

Though he did not find success during his lifetime, Lovecraft and his terrifying literary creations have sealed their fate both in pop culture and in modern mythology.

Lovecraft was an atheist and believed religion to be dangerous to society.

For that reason, he created a pseudo mythology called the Cthulu Mythos (Cthulu is apparently pronounced ‘khlul-loo’ for anyone wondering).

In his writing, Lovecraft created beings, like the famous Cthulu, who were parodies of gods from historical mythology.

Whether intentionally or not, Lovecraft’s legacy has included the uprising of many cults of people who follow his writings as their religion.

Some of these cults take Lovecraft’s writing to heart, actually believing in his creations as reality, and some who recognize the fiction in Lovecraft’s stories but follow the themes in his works as their personal philosophy.

Whether you believe in Cthulu or not, we hope you enjoyed these H. P. Lovecraft quotes and sayings.

Let us know your favorite quote in the comments below.