320+ (BEST) Inspirational Emily Dickinson Quotes About Life, Death, Hope & Friendship

About Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was a 19th-century American poet whose work was mostly known for their austere simplicity. She lived an introverted life, and her work reflected her personality.

Her poetry was noted for its use of unusual and imaginative language, dealing mainly with death and immortality. Dickinson wrote alone in her bedroom, and many of her poems were unfinished.

She wrote about love, death, and nature among other topics. She never published her work and never put much effort into publishing. The best way to read her work is to go through her letters and the few people she sent her work to.

After her death, her sister Lavinia found a number of poems that had never been published. These poems were then edited by Mabel Loomis Todd to include in a collection she compiled in 1890.

In this collection, the poems were arranged by the seasons, and some of them were more polished than others.

She was also a prankster, and would often play jokes on her friends and family through her writing. Dickinson’s writing was often described as “fierce and untamed”—she was trying to break the social conventions of the time and she wanted to challenge and question the status quo.

Dickinson was also open about her belief about religion and what it means to be a woman; she was a feminist.

Emily Dickinson Quotes About Life

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – And sings the tunes without the words – And never stops at all. – Emily Dickinson

The Soul selects her own Society — Then — shuts the Door — To her divine Majority — Present no more — Emily Dickinson

I love – not Man – but God – and God is Love. Emily Dickinson

With a book under my head, I can say a thousand things and hear a myriad of other things- Emily Dickinson

To be All alone and yet to be — All with all — ’tis the Soul’s high privilege, to draw her Heaven from out of Hell- Emily Dickinson

Whoever said you should trust your intuition? Trust it when it tells you that you’re right about something- Emily Dickinson

God gave me my own – what more could He give? —He gave me the Will to use my own. – Emily Dickinson

Not any higher stands the Grave, than does the marriage hearse — To which it brought your bride and you— Emily Dickinson

I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you – Nobody – Too? Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know! How dreary – to be – Somebody! Emily Dickinson

I love you, Nature, now that you’re gray and wrinkled and wild and old with thunder and rain — Emily Dickinson

When I think how sweet it is to be young. I measure the world with such a sponge — Emily Dickinson

I have decided to live at least 80 years, and then — stop! – Emily Dickinson

Why is it that when I talk to you, my friend, Things don’t happen the way I want them to? – Emily Dickinson

A gentle reminder of a judgment long past — Emily Dickinson

I know what it means to be happy and free and loved. – Emily Dickinson

It’s a great thing to be happy- but it’s greater still to make somebody else so- -Emily Dickinson

No man can tell what he would be at seventy, unless he has been at eighty. – Emily Dickinson

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience – Emily Dickinson

Never to drink is better than drinking; never to love is better than loving; never to hope is better than hoping; for never is a sweet word said in vain. – Emily Dickinson

A soul so wise, so constant to her trust, as time shall find- Emily Dickinson

The morning doth not come without its sunshine – Emily Dickinson

I came to love the quiet trees, The grassy fields and flowers — Emily Dickinson

I’m never lonely – Though my heart may ache – Because I know Jesus walks with me. – Emily Dickinson

It is far better to travel hopefully than to arrive. – Emily Dickinson

How bright the world! And how it shines! – Emily Dickinson

A Flower is a leaf that grows in the sea and floats out to sea again. – Emily Dickinson

Rest – and flowers are sure to smile – I see them wide awake – from my slumbering beds. – Emily Dickinson

The wind has scented me anew, and with a new voice greets me now – Emily Dickinson

I have a creature all around me, — A little creature with eyes of blue – Emily Dickinson

If you open your soul to suffer – You will learn much – and then some more – Emily Dickinson

‘Tis better, far to strive against Success, than to succeed against fate. – Emily Dickinson

When I was very small and naked — My mother said of me: “One day You’ll be a mountain tall”- Emily Dickinson

I am (can’t you see?) One with the Universe- Emily Dickinson

A soul so wise, so constant to her trust, as time shall find – Emily Dickinson

I know how hard it is. To be loved when you cannot love in return. – Emily Dickinson

What is your burden? – Your love?- That heavy load, Finds its own way back to me! – Emily Dickinson

“I am not of the world,” I said, – And then my heart was still. – Emily Dickinson

What are those sunny realms where flowers and winds and waters are eternal young? – Emily Dickinson

When I was a girl and earnestly believed in fairy tales, It was a source of great annoyance to those who were not. – Emily Dickinson

I have decided to live at least 80 years, and then – stop! – Emily Dickinson

See how the planets wheel and shine, And all the constellations rise, Towards some pure joy that shines forevermore! – Emily Dickinson

The sky is a cathedral — Emily Dickinson

I’d love to do it all over again – Emily Dickinson

No more sad songs, I’ll sing no more: – No more forlorn complaining: – Or melancholy airs;- Emily Dickinson

And now the day becomes — Emily Dickinson

The way is full of tokens – Emily Dickinson

I do not ask of any place to stay, but only where to pass- Emily Dickinson

I saw no Way – and I feared no Wrong-Emily Dickinson

It’s not that what we have done – Emily Dickinson

T’was just the time, that Spring, when they were bronzing the grass- Emily Dickinson

I thought my secret of the heart – Emily Dickinson

These are things that no one said to me, but I should know, And none of them were ever lies – Any of them I tried to hide – Emily Dickinson

I could not teach unless the truth in me Be stilled and silenced- Emily Dickinson

The larks that chirp and sing are happy birds – Their hearts do full contain- Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson Quotes on Death

Among the things that last– Emily Dickinson

I felt a cleaving in my mind – Emily Dickinson

All earthly things obey the touch of time – Emily Dickinson

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

Hope is the thing with feathers- that perch in the soul – And sings the tune without words – and never stops at all. – Emily Dickinson

He has never talked about what was, Nor dwelled upon the past; – Emily Dickinson

I would not ask to go where- Emily Dickinson

What are our bodies?- Emily Dickinson

If my love were a palace and I a king – I’d build it – on these ten fingers – Emily Dickinson

When I feel all anxiety depart – Emily Dickinson

There is less meaning in life than there is pain.- Emily Dickinson

If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.- Emily Dickinson

Why, why do I need to learn- Emily Dickinson

It’s such a little thing to weep -Emily Dickinson

I found myself a stranger in this world- Emily Dickinson

How happy is the little stone – Emily Dickinson

When we are children, we do not know how to say: -“Enough”-   -Emily Dickinson

To know the origin of pain is to get out of pain – Emily Dickinson

Twenty years from now you shall be more things to me than you are now.-   -Emily Dickinson

You never go away, but only change your place- -Emily Dickinson

You are always ten miles from where you think you are.- Emily Dickinson

I love a door that opens into a garden- Emily Dickinson

It is not what we hold…- Emily Dickinson

No one else -can make you look at things as I do- -Emily Dickinson

The way to your heart is through your stomach- -Emily Dickinson

If you have learned nothing else, believe this: don’t speak or write anything negative or critical about anyone or anything. -John F Kennedy

A bridge is not as good a road.-  Emily Dickinson

It is better to keep silent and thoughtfully form an opinion- Emily Dickinson

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.  Lao Tzu

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle

The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage.-Thucydides

If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves. Perceiving a defect in another, we should try to correct it in ourselves.-  Ayn Rand

Nothing so needs reforming as other people – Emily Dickinson

It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.-  Emily Dickinson

Forgive something that you do not understand – -Emily Dickinson

“Treat others the way you would want them to treat you.” –    -Emily Dickinson

If you walk in the Wall, and look about, You will find the way to every distant star  -Emily Dickinson

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both – Emily Dickinson

“I am so small, so petty and obscure, Comparing myself with these divinely great men” – Emily Dickinson

When the wind blows hard – they gather in the backroom -Emily Dickinson

I t is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.-Emily Dickinson

 Better to lose by loving than by being loved.- Emily Dickinson

If some chance should bring you here(And if…you should stop) – take care Of a lonely heart(That has grown old here).- Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson Quotes about hope.

Hope is the thing with feathers – Emily Dickinson

‘I count infinite – things more great – Emily Dickinson

That’s why I want him(Christ) to teach me, -Emily Dickinson

When you are in despair — hope!- Emily Dickinson

Oh Hope!- If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?- Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers — That perches in the soul – Emily Dickinson

I’m growing old (And I wish I was not)- Emily Dickinson

Hope is a thing with feathers- Emily Dickinson

Adversity, that rough master, -Emily Dickinson

It is not what we hold inside our hearts that makes us strong – Emily Dickinson

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.-   -Theodore Roosevelt

We cannot be what we might have been, – but what we are –  -Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul – Emily Dickinson

I counted one by one the stars that I could see, When suddenly there came a speck of light: It grew and grew until it lit the whole sky- Emily Dickinson

Not all who wander are lost- Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers- Emily Dickinson

Hope is a thing with feathers- Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul – Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soulAnd sings the tune without words, And never stops at all.- Emily Dickinson

Hope is itself a species of happiness, a smiling state of anticipation, -Emily Dickinson

I saw no Way – and I feared no Wrong -Emily Dickinson

Hope is a butterfly, That at first snug lodgings takes, But, following winds and tides, Is very soon abroad to take the air.- Emily Dickinson

Hope’ is a thing with feathers – Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers (that perches in the soul)- Emily Dickinson

I’m growing old (And I wish I was not)-Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers- Emily Dickinson

It’s so much easier to hope than to be right- -Emily Dickinson

It is not what we hold in our hands that makes us rich but what we hold in our hearts.- Emily Dickinson

When I hoped I was answered- Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without words, And never stops at all.- Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson Quotes about Love

The heart will have its reasons which reason cannot know -Emily Dickinson

We do not find love, we create it! – Emily Dickinson

The moon climbed up the sky; The stars in the sun went down, And my darling leaned her head upon my breast And all day long I was happy- Emily Dickinson

I have loved only one man this side of Heaven – Emily Dickinson

There’s a way that leads to joy which is a road I never knew. – Emily Dickinson

Oh, love is all we have left, but most of us have lost the time and the place. We’ve a way to go with a little bit of soul, but that road is long and not for free.-Bruce Springsteen

Not any more than the meridian can O’erlook the darkest deep -Emily Dickinson

I could not love thee, dear, so much — Loved I not honor more – Emily Dickinson

A light exists in Spring – Emily Dickinson

Never, never can the well-taught voice forget the lessons it has learnt of song.-Aristotle

Grass is everywhere— we live as on a ball— ’tis smooth— it’s round–and green—and just to think it may be all for me- Emily Dickinson

The mind has greater power than the eye – Emily Dickinson

A gate is a place for a gate— Emily Dickinson

To die, to sleep -Perchance to dream -Emily Dickinson

If I could not stop for beauty – As we rode through the green fields,- Emily Dickinson

If love were all- it would not last so long – Emily Dickinson

” love is like an eighteen wheeler truck- Emily Dickinson

I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness- Emily Dickinson

Friendship like love is overflowing in fullness upon the heart from God- Emily Dickinson

What we call love -is just a way of hiding our fear-Emily Dickinson

Nature is a Haunted House — Emily Dickinson

I’m nobody! Who are you? –  Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson Quotes about Friendship.

I doubt it not because I love you. – Emily Dickinson

An eye that’s blind to me is an eye that’s blind to all- Emily Dickinson

Never to be with you … oh, never be loved nor known; -Emily Dickinson

I am sorry your acquaintance with me has been so short- Emily Dickinson

Egotism is the most refined form of selfishness- Emily Dickinson

Stranger, if you have sown in my thoughts – Emily Dickinson

Friendship is not a thing of yesterday- Emily Dickinson

There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away, Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry — Emily Dickinson

A friendship that like love is warm, Like love is free- Emily Dickinson

Friendship is not a thing of yesterday- Emily Dickinson

Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world. – Emily Dickinson

We are linked like birds in flight; Like notes in music sweet; We ‘re mingling souls, and we are one-Emily Dickinson

I put my friends to bed with sweets and prayers, And then I make myself a treat.- Emily Dickinson

Friendship is that feeling that when you see a good looking person, you want to be with them forever – Emily Dickinson

I thought two friends were better than three- Emily Dickinson

I had three friends but one died- Emily Dickinson

This is friendship- how I loved thee! -Emily Dickinson

Friendship and Love are really the same: We think they’re one; but they’re not.-Emily Dickinson

Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of one another.-Charles Darwin

There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away, Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry — Emily Dickinson

I had three friends but one died (and then there were two)- Emily Dickinson

Friendship must be as much a light, as it is a flame – Emily Dickinson

A friend is one who knows us, loves us, and trusts us. – Emily Dickinson

Friendship consists in this,-that we are ready to give comfort in times of need- Emily Dickinson

There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away, Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry — Emily Dickinson

Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world.-Emily Dickinson