Emily Dickinson is one of the world’s most famous poets. She has lived a prominent life but has chosen to live in solitude. Dickinson has never married yet she has expressed a lot about life and its many relationships. It wasn’t until her death in 1886 that it was revealed that she had a whole cache of written poems that contained her love for words. While she may have lived in isolation, she has forever gifted us with poems and meaningful words of wisdom.
If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.
Heartbreak is such a powerful experience emotionally. Some may never recover from a broken heart. If only one person can stop such a hurtful moment, that would be enough to save someone’s lives.
That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.
Life is meant to be lived. It is always best to enjoy life by living in the present as there will be instances or situations that only come by once in a lifetime. Always take the risk to do things out of your normal habit. This way, we live life to the fullest.
Saying nothing sometimes says the most.
When you are in an internal conflict and anger is about to consume you, it is best to say nothing at all. There are also times that we need to say nothing especially if we need to comment on controversial things that might hurt other people.
Hold dear to your parents for it is a scary and confusing world without them.
Living a life without your parents feels like an empty world. Gone are the days when you have a safety blanket in the arms of your parents. Always hold them dear and treasure the moments together as they do not live long in this world.
Forever is composed of nows.
Forever can be achieved if you start living for the present. When you do so, you get to start on a journey that will bring you joy and happiness. Working on your favorite hobby or doing that project you have been dying to do should help you achieve eternal happiness.
Truth is so rare, it is delightful to tell it.
Speak only the truth. In a world where lies can easily spread and manipulated, speak nothing but true words. They are the most precious things that you can say and nothing is more delightful telling the truth. You worry less when the truth comes out from your mouth.
The heart wants what it wants — or else it does not care.
The heart will always be in control of your wants, needs, and emotions. If not, then it will not care as long as it satisfies itself. The heart is such a selfish thing that it simply wants what it wants and that is happiness.
Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath.
As they say, love makes the world go round. It brings life and joy to every human being in this world. It also makes death more painful and is the precursor for life on this planet. Love is what makes us human and it should continue to thrive.
People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.
When people are exposed to hardships and difficulties, they begin to learn from experience. This makes them capable of predicting the cause of mistakes thus allowing them a form of psychic ability to prevent the act of making mistakes.
Luck is not chance, it’s toil; fortune’s expensive smile is earned.
Luck is equal parts hard work and opportunity. Some might say that luck was the reason why you got promoted but needless to say, it was your hard work and the opportunity for promotion as well as your preparedness that allowed you to experience luck. Luck will always favor those who have all these attributes.
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.
There is a difference between hope and desperation. Hope manages to keep you in a positive mood to be ready for the future while desperation comes from a place where there is an intense need for something to happen which may not be for the best. Learn to keep hope alive and avoid getting yourself into a state of desperation.
Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes.
Behavior is action personified. People who act on what they think, feel, and believe makes for their behavior.
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
It is best to be the one to take action and use it to affect others than be idle in life and wait for something to happen. Just like the hammer, be the person to start something instead of the anvil who only gets beaten by the hammer.
Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.
The mere sense of living is indeed a joy to experience. Be thankful that you are still breathing today while others have taken their last. Find a meaning to your life today and make it something worthwhile.
I do not like the man who squanders life for fame; give me the man who living makes a name.
People who let fame get the best of them tend to squander their life just to maintain such a state. Never let fame get into your head as greed will soon pop its ugly head. This would destroy your life. Find a person who wants to live not for fame but for life.
I dwell in possibility.
Optimism and hope is the key to living a good life. When you have a positive outlook, you dwell in the many possibilities in life. A pessimistic attitude would only bring negativity, despair, and hopelessness.
How strange that nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude!
Nature has always been neutral. It has never interfered with our lives nor does it intend to change our course. It is always best to let nature tread its natural course so it can flourish. Nature should be left on its own.
Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.
Success is best savored by those who have experienced defeat. The path to success is always accompanied with failure and mistakes. It is those that have taken such a treacherous path to victory that can feel the sweetness of success to its highest level.
The brain is wider than the sky.
No amount can ever contain what is inside your brain. Imagination will always lead you to different adventures and situations. The brain holds more power that it cannot be contained.
Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.
Limit your failures and mistakes in life but never limit the number of risks that you need to take. Some risks may involve a lot of mistakes that can lead to failure but it is worth taking if you know that there is more to it than you can ever imagine.
My friends are my estate.
The value of friendship runs deep for those who have true loyalty to each other. Friends are assets that bear far more value than any other person in the world besides family.
In such a porcelain life, one likes to be sure that all is well lest one stumble upon one’s hopes in a pile of broken crockery.
Life is a very delicate thing. All it takes is for someone to crush someone’s hope and all may seem lost. This is why we always make sure that everything is well and life should be lived.
We outgrow love like other things and put it in a drawer, till it an antique fashion shows like costumes grandsires wore.
Love is an emotion that can slowly dissipate. We outgrow our feelings and our needs for each other but they can always be cherished forever.
An ear can break a human heart as quickly as a spear. We wish the ear had not a heart so dangerously near.
Rumors and lies spread by many can easily break a person’s heart. This is why we need to steer clear away from the lies to protect our hearts.
A wounded dear leaps the highest.
Those who have experienced pain and have carried on will know the joys in life. Pain is something that can be turned into an advantage. Learning to live life with pain and accept it as part of life will only make us stronger.
Unable are the loved to die for Love is immortality
Those who are dear to us will never be gone. Even though they may have passed, their memories will always be with us.
Those who have not found the heaven below, will fail of it above.
People who have not experienced hellish pain in life will never know how it feels to be successful. You have to go deep to find what truly matters in life.
That love is all there is, Is all we know of love.
Love is all that matters in this world. There is no other thing better than love.
In this short life that only lasts ah hour how much-how little-is within our power.
Life is too short that it only takes a minute for someone to lose their lives however, it is also within our power to live life to its fullest in such a short time.
Till it has loved, no man or woman can become itself.
No person can ever feel the fulfillment of life when they have not loved it. No one can ever truly find themselves until they have loved another person.
To shut your eyes is to travel.
When we use our imagination, we travel great distances and enjoy many thoughts and ideas. Such is the power of the mind that it lets you travel even at the comforts of your own home.
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. Espousing the former is not defending the latter.
Morality and religion are not synonymous with each other. Those who have lived a conventional life has never felt the need to question their morality. Self-righteousness has no place in religion.
A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.
Letters are words written by a loved one and preserved in time immemorial. The words in letters will always remain true and will never change.
The poet lights the light and fades away. But the light goes on and on.
The poet writes different poems and fades away but the words and meaning of those poems will always go on forever. The power of words can still impact people even after decades or centuries have passed.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.
Hope is like a song that gives you neverending positivity. It is a song that brings smiles to our faces and even though there are no words to describe it, you can feel it. One should never give up on hope.
They might not need me; but they might. I’ll let my head be just in sight; a smile as small as mine might be precisely their necessity.
A smile can make a difference. A single smile can brighten anyone’s day.
The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.
The soul should always be ready for its next adventure. It is then that you can find worthwhile experiences that also feed your soul.
After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs.
People who felt great pain knows that it will come to pass. Dealing with pain might take some time but it will always get better in time.
One step at a time is all it takes to get you there.
Even with small steps, it can still lead you to your destination. Always remember that the first step is always the hardest. Everything else will simply follow.
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.
If you take care of the things that matter to you, then you gain control over your life. Never mind the bigger things that only serve to distract you from your purpose and goal.
To travel far, there is no better ship than a book.
Books trigger our imagination. It also serves to quench our thirst for adventure.
I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine.
Nothing is more powerful in the world than words. They can either tear a man down or build a man up. If you write it down, it will be forever etched in history.
There is always one thing to be grateful for – that one is one’s self and not somebody else.
Learning to love yourself is something that you should be grateful for. There is no one else that will love you better than yourself.
I have an appetite for silence.
Silence can mean different things. For one, silencing yourself can also silence your detractors.
You can stay young as long as you learn.
Learning is a continuous process. It keeps the mind young and fresh. Just like learning how to walk or ride a bicycle, we feel young again when we learn something new.
I could not stop for death and he did not stop for me.
Death may mean the end for someone but it should not stop everyone else from living life. Life must continue to be lived.
Fortune befriends the bold.
Those who are brave enough to take risks in life are those who will be rewarded. Those who continue to be afraid will never get the chance to succeed.
It is easy to work when the soul is at play.
When you enjoy the things you do at work, it feels like you are not working at all. Sometimes, it even feels like you are just playing the game you love.
We must be careful what we say. No bird resumes its egg.
Let us all be careful with the words we say. We do not know how it will affect other people and worse, we cannot take back the damage it has done.
Action is redemption.
Always mean what you want to say. Action is the key to proper redemption and not the words you say.
Dickinson has always been fond of life and death. As the quotes above show, she has a fascination with what life brings and what death takes. Apart from her artful poems, this is why she remains one of the most well-loved poets in the world.
