180+ Best Emily Dickinson Quotes on Life & Nature

Emily Dickinson quotes one of the most profound poets in American literature, captured the complexities of life, love, death, nature, and the soul in remarkably few words. Her quotes reflect an introspective mind that found depth in solitude and beauty in the unseen. With her distinctive voice and unconventional punctuation, Dickinson expressed timeless truths that continue to resonate with readers today. Whether contemplating the mystery of death or the quiet strength of hope, her words are both gentle and piercing. These quotes offer a glimpse into her unique worldview and inspire reflection, courage, and appreciation for the subtleties of existence.

Emily Dickinson Quotes

“I dwell in possibility.”
“Forever is composed of nows.”
“Saying nothing… sometimes says the most.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live.”
“Beauty is not caused. It is.”
“To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.”
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
“This is my letter to the world that never wrote to me.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes on Love

“That love is all there is, is all we know of love.”
“Unable are the loved to die.”
“The heart wants what it wants—or else it does not care.”
“Love is anterior to life, posterior to death.”
“Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell.”
“Morning without you is a dwindled dawn.”
“Where thou art, that is home.”
“I gave myself to him.”
“Love is immortal flow.”
“Love—thou art high—I cannot climb thee.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Life

“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.”
“Life is a spell so exquisite that everything conspires to break it.”
“To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.”
“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
“Luck is not chance—it’s toil.”
“One step at a time is all it takes to get you there.”
“A little madness in the Spring is wholesome even for the King.”
“Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate.”
“The soul selects her own society.”
“A great hope fell, you heard no noise.”

Famous Emily Dickinson Quotes

“Hope is the thing with feathers.”
“I’m nobody! Who are you?”
“The brain is wider than the sky.”
“Forever is composed of nows.”
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
“I dwell in possibility.”
“That love is all there is.”
“Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.”
“Because I could not stop for Death—He kindly stopped for me.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Love

“Love is the only every god.”
“I had no cause to be awake—my best—was gone to sleep.”
“Love is that later thing than death.”
“Love is the fellow of the resurrection.”
“Heart with warm and beating blood.”
“Your riches taught me poverty.”
“It’s such a little thing to weep—so short a thing to sigh.”
“I cannot live with You—It would be Life.”
“I could not bear to leave thee.”
“Love is the longest mile.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Death

“Because I could not stop for Death—He kindly stopped for me.”
“I heard a fly buzz—when I died.”
“Dying is a wild night and a new road.”
“The only news I know is bulletins all day.”
“The distance that the dead have gone does not at first appear.”
“And then the windows failed—and then I could not see to see.”
“The dying need but little, dear.”
“Death is a dialogue between the spirit and the dust.”
“They say that ‘Time assuages’—Time never did assuage.”
“We never know how high we are till we are called to rise.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Feminism

“I’m nobody! Who are you?”
“The soul selects her own society.”
“A woman—white—to be.”
“A wife—at daybreak—I shall be.”
“They shut me up in Prose.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“Title divine—is mine.”
“Her face was in a frame.”
“She rose to His Requirement—dropt.”
“I do not cross my father’s ground to any house or town.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Hope

“Hope is the thing with feathers.”
“Hope never stops—at all.”
“Hope sings the tune without the words.”
“I shall not live in vain.”
“If I can stop one heart from breaking.”
“Hope has feathers that perches in the soul.”
“That perches in the soul—and sings the tune.”
“Hope is sweetest in the gale.”
“The Hope I’m planting is in bloom.”
“Hope is always ethereal.”

Best Emily Dickinson Quotes

“Hope is the thing with feathers.”
“I’m nobody! Who are you?”
“Because I could not stop for Death.”
“Forever is composed of nows.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
“The brain is wider than the sky.”
“To live is so startling.”
“The heart wants what it wants.”
“Success is counted sweetest.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Friendship

“My friends are my estate.”
“We never know how high we are till we are called to rise.”
“Morning without you is a dwindled dawn.”
“The soul selects her own society.”
“He ate and drank the precious words.”
“A word is dead when it is said—I say it just begins to live.”
“I find ecstasy in living.”
“The heart asks pleasure first.”
“Parting is all we know of heaven.”
“Where thou art—that is home.”

New Beginning – Emily Dickinson Quotes

“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.”
“Morning without you is a dwindled dawn.”
“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee.”
“A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live.”
“Forever is composed of nows.”
“I felt a cleaving in my mind—As if my brain had split.”
“I dwell in possibility.”
“Hope is the thing with feathers.”
“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes on Death

“Because I could not stop for Death—He kindly stopped for me.”
“I heard a fly buzz—when I died.”
“Dying is a wild night and a new road.”
“I felt a funeral in my brain.”
“The dying need but little, dear.”
“And then the windows failed—and then I could not see to see.”
“A death-blow is a life-blow to some.”
“The distance that the dead have gone does not at first appear.”
“He kindly stopped for me—the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.”
“Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell.”

Meaningful Emily Dickinson Quotes

“Forever is composed of nows.”
“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.”
“Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.”
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“Hope is the thing with feathers.”
“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.”
“We never know how high we are till we are called to rise.”
“Saying nothing… sometimes says the most.”
“This is my letter to the world that never wrote to me.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Poetry

“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
“A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live.”
“Nature is a haunted house—but Art—a house that tries to be haunted.”
“I dwell in possibility—a fairer house than prose.”
“Poetry is not the thing—it is the way of saying it.”
“The soul selects her own society—then shuts the door.”
“Publication—is the auction of the mind.”
“I like a look of agony, because I know it’s true.”
“I’m nobody! Who are you?”
“To earn it by disdaining it is Fame’s consummate Fee.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Success

“Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.”
“Luck is not chance—it’s toil.”
“We never know how high we are till we are called to rise.”
“Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“Dwell in possibility.”
“The brain is wider than the sky.”
“To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.”
“One step at a time is all it takes to get you there.”
“A great hope fell, you heard no noise.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Nature

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee.”
“A bird came down the walk.”
“A light exists in spring.”
“There’s a certain slant of light.”
“Nature is what we see.”
“The sun just touched the morning.”
“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”
“The sky is low, the clouds are mean.”
“The grass so little has to do.”
“I taste a liquor never brewed—from tankards scooped in pearl.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes – Death & Immortality

“Because I could not stop for Death—He kindly stopped for me.”
“The carriage held but just ourselves—and Immortality.”
“Death is a dialogue between the spirit and the dust.”
“I heard a fly buzz—when I died.”
“I died for beauty—but was scarce adjusted in the tomb.”
“Dying is a wild night and a new road.”
“Parting is all we know of heaven.”
“A death-blow is a life-blow to some.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“And immortality I never knew till I ceased to be.”

Life Inspirational Emily Dickinson Quotes

“To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.”
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”
“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.”
“Forever is composed of nows.”
“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
“The brain is wider than the sky.”
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”
“The soul selects her own society.”
“I dwell in possibility.”
“Morning without you is a dwindled dawn.”

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Writing

“A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live.”
“Publication—is the auction of the mind.”
“This is my letter to the world that never wrote to me.”
“I dwell in possibility—a fairer house than prose.”
“Saying nothing… sometimes says the most.”
“The soul should always stand ajar.”
“The truth must dazzle gradually.”
“I like a look of agony, because I know it’s true.”
“Nature is what we see—The Hill—the Afternoon.”
“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”

Conclusion

Emily Dickinson’s quotes endure because they speak to the core of human emotion and thought with elegant brevity. Her poetic lines distill vast themes into moments of clarity, often revealing the invisible threads that tie life, death, and the soul together. Her reflections on nature, hope, love, and inner strength remain as relevant now as they were in her reclusive 19th-century life. Whether you’re seeking comfort, inspiration, or a deeper understanding of the human condition, Dickinson’s words offer a quiet, steady light. In just a few lines, she reminds us how powerful simplicity can be in expressing life’s greatest truths.