Gerard De Nerval Quotes

A collection of quotes by Gerard De Nerval.

GÃ©rard de Nerval was a 19th-century French writer. Born in Paris in 1808, he is known for his literary works that blend romanticism, surrealism, and symbolism. De Nerval's most famous works include "AurÃ©lia" and "Les ChimÃ¨res." His writing style often delved into themes of mythology, dreams, and madness, reflecting his own troubled mental state. De Nerval's poignant and enigmatic writings continue to inspire and intrigue readers to this day. Sadly, he suffered from mental illness throughout his life and tragically took his own life in 1855.

How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without

How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without identifying myself with it? Everything lives, moves, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays, emanating either from myself or from others, cross the limitless chain of created things unimpeded; it is a transparent network that covers the world, and its slender threads communicate themselves by degrees to the planets and stars. Captive now upon earth, I commune with the chorus of the stars who share in my joys and sorrows.

Gerard De Nerval

It has been rightly said that nothing is unimportant, nothin

It has been rightly said that nothing is unimportant, nothing powerless in the universe; a single atom can dissolve everything, and save everything! What terror! There lies the eternal distinction between good and evil.

Gerard De Nerval

Things Little Things

When the soul drifts uncertainly between life and the dream,

When the soul drifts uncertainly between life and the dream, between the mind's disorder and the return to cool reflection, it is in religious thought that we should seek consolation.

Gerard De Nerval

The first moments of sleep are an image of death; a hazy tor

The first moments of sleep are an image of death; a hazy torpor grips our thoughts and it becomes impossible for us to determine the exact instant when the I, under another form, continues the task of existence.

Gerard De Nerval

Our dreams are a second life. I have never been able to pene

Our dreams are a second life. I have never been able to penetrate without a shudder those ivory or horned gates which separate us from the invisible world.

Gerard De Nerval

Every flower is a soul blossoming in Nature.

Every flower is a soul blossoming in Nature.

Gerard De Nerval

The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life! And yet can w

The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life! And yet can we cast out of our spirits all the good or evil poured into them by so many learned generations? Ignorance cannot be learned.

Gerard De Nerval