50 Pablo Neruda Quotes Sure to Leave You Questioning Life and Love

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean Senator and Nobel Prize-winning poet. He also had a reference in the popular musical Rent! Poem XVII is arguably his most famous poem. If you are an exceptionally inquisitive sort, be sure to read through his “Book of Questions”. You’ll also find some of those questions within the Pablo Neruda quotes below.

Pablo lived an intriguing life as a political activist and writer of sonnets. He lived in Chile, Spain, and even Paris. He resigned his political duties when he was diagnosed with cancer. His thoughts on love and life live on in his work.

Pablo Neruda quotes about being in love

1. “I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” ― Pablo Neruda

2. “Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”― Pablo Neruda

3. “To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.” ― Pablo Neruda

4. “Love! Love until the night collapses!” ― Pablo Neruda

5. “Love is the mystery of water and a star.” ― Pablo Neruda

6. “Love is a clash of lightnings” ― Pablo Neruda 

7. “Your wide eyes are the only light I know from extinguished constellations.” ― Pablo Neruda

8. “In one kiss, you’ll know all I haven’t said.” ― Pablo Neruda

Don’t forget to also read these Virginia Woolf quotes for understanding life itself

Pablo Neruda quotes about love lost

9. “Let us forget with generosity those who cannot love us.” ― Pablo Neruda

10. “Well, now, if little by little you stop loving me I shall stop loving you little by little.” ― Pablo Neruda

11. “I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.”― Pablo Neruda

12. “Don’t leave me, even for an hour, because then the little drops of anguish will all run together, the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift into me, choking my lost heart.” ― Pablo Neruda

13. “It was my destiny to love and say goodbye.” ― Pablo Neruda

14. “Give me your hand out of the depths sown by your sorrows.” ― Pablo Neruda

15. “From sorrow to, sorrow love crosses its islands and establishes roots that are watered by weeping.” ― Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda quotes about books, writing, and poetry

16. “Laughter is the language of the soul.” ― Pablo Neruda

17. “It was at that age that poetry came in search of me.”― Pablo Neruda

18. “He who does not travel, who does not read, who does not listen to music, who does not find grace in himself, she who does not find grace in herself, dies slowly.” ― Pablo Neruda
If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of grace quotes that will change your life.

19. “The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.” ― Pablo Neruda

20. “While I’m writing, I’m far away; and when I come back, I’ve gone.” ― Pablo Neruda
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of writing quotes that will inspire you to begin your own writing journey.

21. “I do not dare, I do not dare to write it if you die.” ― Pablo Neruda

22. “And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.” ― Pablo Neruda

23. “Poetry is an act of peace. Peace goes into the making of a poet as flour goes into the making of bread.” ― Pablo Neruda

24. “A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don’t slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices.” ― Pablo Neruda

25. “A book, a book full of human touches, of shirts, a book without loneliness, with men and tools, a book is victory.” ― Pablo Neruda

Also read these eye-opening Thomas Paine quotes that will make you question your philosophy.

Pablo Neruda quotes about life, inevitability, and death

26. “Someday, somewhere – anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.” ― Pablo Neruda

27. “As if you were on fire from within. The moon lives in the lining of your skin.” ― Pablo Neruda

28. “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” ― Pablo Neruda

29. “He who becomes the slave of habit, who follows the same routes every day, who never changes pace, who does not risk and change the color of his clothes, who does not speak and does not experience, dies slowly.” ― Pablo Neruda

30. “If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life” ― Pablo Neruda

31. “My soul is an empty carousel at sunset.” ― Pablo Neruda

32. “Everything is ceremony in the wild garden of childhood.” ― Pablo Neruda

33. “Give me, for my life, all lives, give me all the pain of everyone, I’m going to turn it into hope.” ― Pablo Neruda

34. “We must dream our way.” ― Pablo Neruda

35. “Death is the stone into which our oblivion hardens.” ― Pablo Neruda

36. “Let’s try and avoid death in small doses, reminding oneself that being alive requires an effort far greater than the simple fact of breathing.” ― Pablo Neruda

37. “In the eyes of mourning the land of dreams begins.” ― Pablo Neruda

38. “He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.” ― Pablo Neruda

Other intriguing Pablo Neruda quotes and questions

39. “Do tears not yet spilled wait in small lakes?” ― Pablo Neruda

40. “With which stars do they go on speaking, the rivers that never reach the sea?” ― Pablo Neruda

41. “Does he who is always waiting, suffer more than he who’s never waited for anyone?” ― Pablo Neruda

42. “Is there anything in the world sadder than a train standing in the rain?” ― Pablo Neruda

43. “What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky?” ― Pablo Neruda

44. “Do you not see that the apple tree flowers only to die in the apple?” ― Pablo Neruda

45. “In what language does rain fall over tormented cities?” ― Pablo Neruda

46. “Where does the rainbow end, in your soul or on the horizon?” ― Pablo Neruda

47. “Why do trees conceal the splendor of their roots?” ― Pablo Neruda

48. “Whom can I ask what I came to make happen in this world? Why do I move without wanting to, why am I not able to sit still? Why do I go rolling without wheels, flying without wings or feathers, and why did I decide to migrate if my bones live in Chile?” ― Pablo Neruda

49. “What does autumn go on paying for with so much yellow money?” ― Pablo Neruda

50. “Why is it so hard, the sweetness of the heart of the cherry? Is it because it must die or because it must carry on?” ― Pablo Neruda

You might also like these inspirational JRR Tolkein quotes from the father of modern fantasy literature

What is your favorite Pablo Neruda quote, or piece? 

Pablo Neruda reminds us all that there is beauty in loving, and even in love lost. Life consists of a series of inevitable truths and he had an eloquent way of sharing those truths with others.

I would love to know “What did the tree learn from the Earth to be able to talk with the sky?” This question is so profound that it will keep me pondering for a while yet. If you have any answers to Pablo Neruda’s questions feel free to respond in the comment section below! Also, don’t forget to also share these inspirational Pablo Neruda quotes with your friends and followers.