Anais Nin

United States
21 Feb 1903 // 14 Jan 1977
Author

Quotes

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Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terror, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them.
When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons.

The Diary of Ana�s Nin, Vol. 4: 1944-1947
When others asked the truth of me, I was convinced it was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.
I prefer by far the warmth and softness to mere brilliancy and coldness. Some people remind me of sharp dazzling diamonds. Valuable but lifeless and loveless. Others, of the simplest field flowers, with hearts full of dew and with all the tints of celestial beauty reflected in their modest petals.

The Early Diary of Ana�s Nin, Vol. 2: 1920-1923
I have no brakes on... analysis is for those who are paralyzed by life.

The Diary of Ana�s Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934
Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together.
Creation which cannot express itself becomes madness.
I don�t really want to become normal, average, standard. I want merely to gain in strength, in the courage to live out my life more fully, enjoy more, experience more. I want to develop even more original and more unconventional traits.
In chaos, there is fertility.
I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
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Human, All Too Human
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