Ordinary Life Does Not Interest Me By Anaïs Nin

Ordinary life does not interest me is a line written by the notorious writer Anaïs Nin.

For the uninitiated, Anaïs Nin was infamous for her erotica and unexpurgated diaries.

This French-born writer Nin was largely ignored, mocked and criticized during her days.

In the Partisan Review, Elizabeth Hardwick insulted Anaïs Nin and her work “Under A Glass Bell“, as reproduced in her own book:

“…Anaïs Nin, one of our most self-consciously uncompromising writers, seems old-fashioned. She is vague, dreamy, mercilessly pretentious; the sickly child of distinguished parents – the avant garde of the twenties – and unfortunately a great bore…”

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1947–1955 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974, Summer 1948, P. 36) source

Whatever it is, today, naughty Nin is revered by many and even regarded as one of the leading female writers of the 20th century.

In fact, Anaïs Nin is a now a source of inspiration for women challenging conventionally defined gender roles.

At the same time, she is also been accused of narcissism, sociopathy and sexual perversion.

It is said some worship Anaïs Nin, many hate her, and most misunderstand her.

Her lust for life is clearly reflected in her work.

Nin covered a wide range of topics in her multi-volume diaries, that include: separated parents, sexual awakenings, incest, abortion, fame, family members, lovers and facing death.

Ordinary Life Does Not Interest Me

Her first published book titled “D. H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study” back in 1932 in Paris.

Most of her work was published posthumously, that include “Delta of Venus” and “Little Birds“.

“Delta of Venus” is a collection of fifteen short stories were written in the 1940s for a private collector by the name of Roy M. Johnson of Healdton Oil, Oklahoma.

This book was made into a movie in 1994 and directed by Zalman King.

Anaïs Nin Nin wrote sixteen volumes of her journals which have been published. The last five of them are adult journals in expurgated form.

For those of you who are a fan of this passionate female writer, you might have read her controversial ‘Father Story’ about Nin and her father Joaquin Nin.

It is from her “A Journal of Love -The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin (1932-1934)“.

Below is my selection of Anaïs Nin quotes taken from her books:

“Everything but happiness is neurosis. So speaks the man of wisdom, not the man of experience.” – Anaïs Nin

(Fire: From “A Journal of Love”: The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1934-1937 By Anaïs Nin, With A Preface By Rupert Pole And Biographical Notes And Annotations By Gunther Stuhlmann, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1995, Feb. 15, 1936, P. 203) source

“Creation which cannot express itself becomes madness.” – Anaïs Nin

“The monster I kill every day is the monster of realism. The monster who attacks me every day is destruction. Out of the duel comes the transformation. I turn destruction into creation over and over again.” – Anaïs Nin

“The necessity for fiction was probably born of the problem of taboo on certain revelations. It was not only a need of the imagination but an answer to the limitations placed on portrayal of others.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Novel Of The Future By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 2014, P. 155) source

(The quote is also found in: Anaïs Nin Reader By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Philip K. Jason, Introduction By Anna Balahian, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1973, P. 294) source

“Aesthetics was an expression of man’s need to be in love with his world. The cult of ugliness is a regression. It destroys our appetite, our love for our world.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Novel Of The Future By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 2014, P. 197) source

(The quote is also found here.)

“We are born with the power to alter what we are given at birth.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Novel Of The Future By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1986, P. 197) source

“The secret of joy is the mastery of pain.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 4 (1944-1947), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1972, July, 1945, P. 71)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1944-1947, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1971, July, 1945, P. 71) source

“Writers do not live one life, they live two. There is the living and then there is the writing. There is the second tasting, the delayed reaction.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1931–1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, P. 73) source

(The quote is also found in: Anais, Volume 12 Contributed By Anais Nin Foundation, Los Angeles, CA: Anais Nin Foundation, 1994, P. 44) source

“The white page for me is like a ski slope; I go absolutely mad! I go mad in stationery stores. Just to see beautiful paper gives me a desire to write.” – Anaïs Nin

(A Woman Speaks: The Lectures, Seminars, And Interviews Of Anaïs Nin, Edited By Evelyn J. Hinz, 1975, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1975, P. 219)

“I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live.” – Anaïs Nin

(The New Woman By Anais Nin, Ramparts Magazine, June 1974, P. 42) source

(The quote is also found in: In Favor Of The Sensitive Man And Other Essays By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, The New Woman, P. 12)

(You can hear the quote in the audio recording of Anais Nin talking about The New Woman over here.)

Note: A lecture given at the Celebration of Women in the Arts, in San Francisco, April 1974

“Introspection does not need to be a still life. It can be an active alchemy.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1931–1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, P. 126)

“…my life is slowed up by thought and the need to understand what I am living.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Volume 1 1931-1934 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, February, 1932, P. 48) source

(The quote is also found in: The Journals of Anaïs Nin, Volume 1 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1970, February, 1932, P. 48) source

“It was only when I wrote my first book that the world I wanted to live in opened to me.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Journals Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1970, P. 185)

“There are two ways to reach me: by way of kisses or by way of the imagination. But there is a hierarchy: the kisses alone don’t work.” – Anaïs Nin

(Henry And June: From The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin By Anaïs Nin, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986, P. 8)

“Do not seek the because – in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.” – Anaïs Nin

(Henry And June: From The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986, P. 90) source

“If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it.” – Anaïs Nin

(In Favor Of the Sensitive Man And Other Essays By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, The New Woman, P. 13)

(The quote is also found in: The White blackbird And Other writings; The Tale Of An Old Geisha And Other Stories By Anaïs Nin, Kanoko Okamoto, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1985, P. 104) source

(You can hear the quote in the audio recording of Anais Nin talking about The New Woman.)

“I put my faith in therapy as others do in religion, or philosophy.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Vol. 7 (1966-1974), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, Winter, 1970-1971, Letter To A Reader, P. 175) source

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1966-1974, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1980, P. 175) source

“When you allow yourself to be negative, you add to the burdens of the world…” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Vol. 7, (1966-1974), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, Summer, 1970, Letter To A Reader, P. 148) source

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1966-1974, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, SAthens, Ohio: wallow Press, 1980, P. 148) source

“Books are the greatest companions, confessors, confidantes, tutors, a source of pleasure, a cure for loneliness, and to find one, in the middle of an island in Tahiti, in the heart of the Moroccan desert, or at an airport where one is stranded for a night, is to find the friend who reminds us we are not alone.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Vol. 7 (1966-1974), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, Fall 1969, Written For Book-signing Party At Books In Review Bookshop, Los Angeles, P. 104) source

“Ultimately I look upon writing as wings. We are pedestrians, we walk along the earth; we may love the earth, but the moment of absolute magic is when our imagination allows us to take flights into vaster, more entrancing worlds.” – Anaïs Nin

()

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1966-1974, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1980, P. 85)

“I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Four-Chambered Heart By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1959, P. 18)

(The quote is also found in: Cities Of The Interior By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1974, P. 249)

“When you trust, you are tender and delicate, but when you doubt, you are dangerous and destructive” – Anaïs Nin

(The Four-Chambered Heart By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1959, P. 64)

(The quote is also found in: Cities Of The Interior, Vol. 1 By Anaïs Nin, Denver: Alan Swallow, 1959)

“You had to account for every move, arrival or exit. In the world there was a conspiracy against improvisation. It was only permitted in jazz.” – Anaïs Nin

(Cities Of The Interior By Anaïs Nin, London: Peter Owen, 1978, P. 466)

(The quote is also found in: Seduction Of The Minotaur, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1990, P. 6)

“Love never dies of a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source, it dies of blindness and errors and betrayals.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Four-Chambered Heart By Anaïs Nin, Volume 2 Of Cities Of The Interior, London: Quartet Books, 1979, P. 49)

(The quote is also found in: The Novel of the Future By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 2014, P. 57)

(Another source of the quote is found in: Cities Of The interior By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1974, P. 269)

“In the world of the dreamer there was solitude: all the exaltations and joys came in the moment of preparation for living. They took place in solitude.” – Anaïs Nin

(Cities Of The interior By Anaïs Nin, Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Introduction By Sharon Spencer, London: Peter Owen, 1978, P. 219)

(The quote is also found in: Children Of The Albatross By Anaïs Nin, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1959, P. 145)

“When you make a world tolerable for yourself, you make a world tolerable for others.” – Anaïs Nin

()

“The writer’s responsibility is to increase, develop our senses, expand our vision, heighten our awareness and enrich our articulateness.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1947–1955 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, P. 171)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter OWen, 1999, P. 171)

“The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1947–1955 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, P. 171)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter OWen, 1999, P. 171)

“Art is the method of levitation, in order to separate one’s self from enslavement by the earth.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Volume 5 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1974, P. 154)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1999, P. 154)

“We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art–we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones.” – Anaïs Nin

()

(The quote is in the audio recording of Anais Nin talking about The New Woman over here.)

“Ordinary life does not interest me. I seek only the high moments. I am in accord with the surrealists, searching for the marvelous.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1 (1931–1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, Winter, 1931-1932, P. 5)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anais Nin, Volumes 1, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1970, P. 5)

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, June, 1941, P. 125)

“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” – Anaïs Nin

()

(The quote is also found in: Anais Nin Reader By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Philip K. Jason, Introduction By Anna Balahian, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1973, P. 260)

“The final lesson a writer learns is that everything can nourish the writer. The dictionary, a new word, a voyage, an encounter, a talk on the street, a book, a phrase learned.” – Anaïs Nin

(Anaïs Nin Reader By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Philip K. Jason, Introduction By Anna Balakian, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1973, P. 302)

“Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It creates the failures. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 4 (1944-1947), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1972, February, 1947, Letter From Kendall, P. 185)

“Living never wore one out so much as the effort not to live…” – Anaïs Nin

(Anaïs Nin Reader By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Philip K. Jason, Introduction By Anna Balakian, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1973, P. 79)

“…the truly faithless one is the one who makes love to only a fraction of you. And denies the rest.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. I (1931–1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, February, 1932, P. 51)

“For you and for me the highest moment, the keenest joy, is not when our minds dominate but when we lose our minds.” – Anaïs Nin

(A Literate Passion: Letters Of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1989, Feb 22, 1932, P. 12)

(The quote is also found in: Henry and June: From The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin by Anaïs Nin, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986, P. 47)

“Passion gives me moments of wholeness.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. I (1931–1934), Edited With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1966, February, 1932, P. 48)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anais Nin Volume 1 1931-1934: Vol. 1 (1931-1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, February, 1932, P. 48)

“We don’t have a language for the senses. Feelings are images, sensations are like musical sounds.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. I (1931–1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, February, 1932, P. 51)

“Man can never know the kind of loneliness a woman knows. Man lies in a woman’s womb only to gather strength, he nourishes himself from this fusion, and then he rises and goes into the world, into his work, into battle, into art. He is not lonely. He is busy.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin, Vol. I (1931–1934), Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, May 25 1932, P. 106)

“It is in the moments of emotional crisis that human beings reveal themselves most accurately.” – Anaïs Nin

()

(The quote is also found in: Anaïs Nin Reader By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Philip K. Jason, Introduction By Anna Balakian, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1973, P. 298)

“…dreams are necessary to life…” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 2 (1934-1939), Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1970, June, 1936, Letter To My Mother, P. 89)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1934-1939, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1967, P. 89)

“…each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary of Anaïs Nin: 1934-1939, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1967, P. 193)

“The earth is heavy and opaque without dreams.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Vol.3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1969, P. 78)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anais Nin Volume 3 1939-1944, Edited And With A preface By Gunther Stulhmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, P. 78)

“It was while writing a Diary that I discovered how to capture the living moments.” – Anaïs Nin

(On Writing By Anaïs Nin, Hanover, N.H.: Daniel Oliver Associates,1947, P. 20)

(The quote is also found in: The Mystic Of Sex And Other writings By Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, Edited by Gunther Stuhlmann, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1995, P. 36)

“Most novels today are inadequate because they reflect not our experience, but people’s fear of experience. They portray all the evasions.” – Anaïs Nin

(On Writing By Anaïs Nin, With An Essay On Her Art By William Burford, Hanover, N.H.: Daniel Oliver Associates, 1947, P. 19)

(The quote is also found in: The Mystic Of Sex: And Other Writings By Anaïs Nin, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1995, P. 34)

“It is surprising how well one writes if one thinks no one will read you.” – Anaïs Nin

(On Writing By Anaïs Nin, With An Essay On Her Art By William Burford, Yonkers, N.Y.: Oscar Baradinsky, 1947, P. 24)

(The quote is also found in: The Mystic Of Sex: And Other Writings By Anaïs Nin, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1995, P. 39)

“And nothing that we do not discover emotionally will have the power to alter our vision.” – Anaïs Nin

(On Writing By Anaïs Nin, With An Essay On Her Art By William Burford, Hanover, N.H.: Daniel Oliver Associates, 1947, P. 20)

(The quote is also found in: The Mystic Of Sex: And Other Writings By Anaïs Nin, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1995, P. 35)

“There is no one on earth truthfully interested in others’ work, if he is himself a creator – no one. I am more interested in my own writing than in other people’s.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin Volume 3: 1923–1927 By Anaïs Nin, Editor’s Note By Rupert Pole, Preface By Joaquin Nin-Culmell, Houghton Mifflin, 1985, December 1924, P. 74)

(The quote is also found in: Linotte, The Early Diary Of Anaïs Nin: Volume Three 1923-1927 By Anaïs Nin, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1985, P. 74)

(Another source of the quote is found in: Journal of a Wife: The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1923-1927, London: Peter Owen, 1984, P. 74)

“Anxiety is love’s greatest killer, because it is like the stranglehold of the drowning.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 5 (1947-1955) By Anaïs Nin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1975, Summer, 1948, P. 34)

(This quote is also found in: The Journals of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 by Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, edited by Gunther Stuhlmann, Owen, 1999; p.34)

“The basis of insincerity is the idealized image we hold of ourselves and wish to impose on others…” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 1 (1931-1934) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, July, 1932, P. 128)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Gunther Stulhmann, London: Peter Owen, 1970, P. 128)

“To lie, of course, is to engender insanity.” – Anaïs Nin

(Henry and June: From The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin By Anaïs Nin, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986, P. 231)

“…sometimes we reveal the most when we are least like ourselves.” – Anaïs Nin

(Henry And June: From The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin By Anaïs Nin, San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986, January, 1932, P. 24)

“I postpone death by living, by suffering, by error, by risking, by giving, by losing.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 1 (1931-1934) By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With An Introduction By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, P. 190)

“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.” – Anaïs Nin

()

(The quote is also found here.)

“For me, the adventures of the mind, each inflection of thought, each movement, nuance, growth, discovery, is a source of exhilaration.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 1 (1931-1934) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, November, 1933, P. 294)

(The quote is also found in: Incest: From “A Journal of Love”: The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1932–1934 By Anaïs Nin, With An Introduction By Ruper Pole And Biographical Notes By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993, January 20, 1934, P. 301)

“People living deeply have no fear of death.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Journals Of Anais Nin: 1934-1939, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Quartet Books, 1973, August, 1935, P. 66)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 2 (1934-1939) Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stublmann,Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1970, August, 1935, P. 60)

“You cannot save people, you can only love them.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Journals Of Anaïs Nin 1934-1939, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1970, September, 1939, P. 338)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anais Nin: 1934-1939, Edited With Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Quartet Books, 1973, P. 354)

“…I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger than reason.” – Anaïs Nin

(Incest: From “A Journal of Love”: The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1932–1934 By Anaïs Nin, With An Introduction By Ruper Pole And Biographical Notes By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1992, July 4, 1934, P. 349)

“No one but a woman in love ever sees the maximum of men’s greatness.” – Anaïs Nin

(Incest: From “A Journal of Love” -The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin (1932-1934) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993, June 10, 1934 , P. 344)

“Experience teaches acceptance of the imperfect as life.” – Anaïs Nin

(Fire: From “A Journal of Love”: The Unexpurgated Diary Of Anaïs Nin, 1934-1937 By Anaïs Nin, With A Preface By Rupert Pole And Biographical Notes And Annotations By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995, Feb.15, 1936, PP. 202-203)

(The quote is also found in: Anais Vol. 12 Contributor Anais Foundation, 1994, P. 10)

“…to withhold from living is to die and that the more you give of yourself to life the more life nourishes you.” – Anaïs Nin

(The quote is also found in: Anais Vol. 12 Contributor Anais Foundation, 1994, P. 13)

“Ecstasy is a moment of exaltation, of wholeness.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1934-1939, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, P. Owen, 1970, P. 109)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 2 (1934-1939) Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, The Swallow Press: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1967, August, 1936, P. 109)

“The reading of books is in itself the most beautiful education of all. Because of reading I acquainted with the entire whole, physical, intellectual, historical, scientific. My life was expanded.” – Anaïs Nin

()

“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 4 (1944-1947) By Anaïs Nin, 1972, July, 1945. P. 74)

“My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin Vol.3 (1939-1944) Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, 1971, April, 1940, P. 78)

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anaïs Nin

(In Favor Of The Sensitive Man And Other Essays By Anaïs Nin, 2012, The New Woman, P. 13)

(This is the audio recording of Anais Nin talking about The New Woman over here.)

“I want to live only for ecstasy. Small doses, moderate loves, all half-shades, leave me cold. I like extravagance.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 1 (1931-1934) by Anaïs Nin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1969, February, 1933, P. 174)

(The quote is also found in: Anais: An International Journal, Volume 17 Contributed By Anais Nin Foundation, Los Angeles, CA: Anais Nin Foundation, 1999, P. 40)

“Every moment you can choose what you wish to see, observe or record. It is your choice. So you create the total aspect according to your vision.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary of Anais Nin Vol. 6 (1955-1966) by Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, Winter, 1955-1956, The New York Times, P. 12)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1955-1966 By Anaïs Nin, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Quartet Books, 1979, P. 12)

“Poetry is the myth created out of human elements.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, February, 1940, P. 19)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals of Anaïs Nin, Volume 3 By Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, edited by Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter owen, 1966, P. 19)

“Any experience carried out deeply to its ultimate leads you beyond yourself into a larger relation to the experience of others.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, P. 299)

“Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terrors, great loneliness,, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1944-1947 by Anaïs Nin, Edited With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1971, P. 65)

“You live out the confusions until they become clear.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Journals Of Anaïs Nin, Volume 3 by Anaïs Nin, Edited By Gunther Stulmann, London: Peter Owen, 1966, P. 160)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anais Nin Volume 3 1939-1944: Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, P. 160)

“Every individual is representative of the whole, a symptom, and should be intimately understood.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, September, 1940, P. 44)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1939-1944 By Anaïs Nin, Contributed And Edited By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1969, P. 44)

“You must not fear, hold back, count or be a miser with your thoughts and feelings. It is also true that creation comes from an overflow, so you have to learn to intake, to imbibe, to nourish yourself and not be afraid of fullness.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1944-1947 By Anaïs Nin, Edited And With A Preface By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Quartet Books, 1976, P. 74)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 194-1947 By Anaïs Nin, Contributed And Edited By Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1971, P. 65)

“…It is a sign of great inner insecurity to be hostile to the unfamiliar.” – Anaïs Nin

( )

(This quote is also found in: The Diary of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 by Anaïs Nin, contributed and edited by Gunther Stuhlmann, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1980; p.56)

“As you swim, you are washed of all the excrescences of so-called civilization, which includes the incapacity to be happy under any circumstances.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 5 (1947-1955) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1975, Fall, 1951, El Mirador Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, P. 74)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 By Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, Edited By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1999, P. 74)

“If one changes internally, one should not continue to live with the same objects.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 4 (1944-1947) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1972, September, 1944, P. 26)

(The quote is also found in: The Diary Of Anaïs Nin: 1944-1947 By Anaïs Nin, Edited By Gunther Stuhlman, Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1971, P. 26)

“We cannot always place responsibility outside of ourselves, on parents, nations, the world, society, race, religion.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 5 (1947-1955) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1975, Winter, 1948, P. 40)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin: 1947-1955 By Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, Edited By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1999, P. 40)

“There are so many joys, but I have only known the ones that come like a miracle, touching everything with light.” – Anaïs Nin

(Mirages: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1939–1947 by Anaïs Nin, edited by Paul Herron, Ohio University Press, 2013, Again Towards America, Will I ever reach joy?, New York Savoy Hotel, Room 1410)

(The quote is also found here.)

“We believe we are in touch with a greater amount of people… This is the illusion which might cheat us of being in touch deeply with the one breathing next to us.” – Anaïs Nin

(Conversations With Anaïs Nin, Interview with Studs Terkel, Univ. Press Of Mississippi, 1994,1972, P. 152)

(Audio recording of the interview withStuds Terkel at radio station WFMT-FM, Chicago on January 1972)

“Each triumph is a conquest by the body, fingers, muscles. You live with your hands, in acts of physical deftness.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, P. 186) source

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin, Volume 3 By Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, Edited By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1966, P. 186) source

“You pit your faculties against concrete problems. The victories are concrete, definable, touchable.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, P. 186) source

“Just bring your own contents, and you create a sparkle of the highest power.” – Anaïs Nin

(A Literate Passion: Letters Of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953 By Anaïs Nin, Henry Miller, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1989, Barbizon Plaza Hotel Dec. 3, 1934, P. 239) source

“The ivory tower of the artist may be the only stronghold left for human values, cultural treasures, man’s cult of beauty.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, September, 1940, P. 49) source

(The quote is also found in: The Journals Of Anaïs Nin, Volume 3 By Anaïs Nin & Gunther Stuhlmann, Edited By Gunther Stuhlmann, London: Peter Owen, 1966, P. 49) source

“Any experience carried out deeply to its ultimate leads you beyond yourself into a larger relation to the experience of others.” – Anaïs Nin

(The Diary Of Anais Nin Vol. 3 (1939-1944) By Anaïs Nin, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1971, P. 299) source

Note:

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

This quote is indeed found in Anaïs Nin’s book “Seduction Of The Minotaur“.

But in the story, it reads:

Lillian was reminded of the talmudic words: “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

(Seduction Of Minotaur By Anaïs Nin, Denver: Alan Swallow, 1961, P. 124) source

In fact, Anaïs Nin was quoting the adage: “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

According to writer Nin, that line is supposed from the Talmud.

But from what I have read, that quote actually is NOT from the Talmud.

The closest resemblance to this quote in the Talmud is:

“A man is shown in a dream only what is suggested by his own thoughts…” – Talmud

(Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Berakoth, Folios: Berakoth 55b) source

(Three Creation Stories: A Rabbi Encounters The Universe By Michael Gold, Oregon: WIPF & Stock Publishers, 2018, Part III: The Third Creation Story – Idealism, Ch. 8, Idealism – What If Only Mind Exist?, P. 115) source

*By the way, you can download this book “Seduction Of The Minotaur” over here.

Anaïs Nin Quote Bud

The quote below is NOT by Anaïs Nin.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

You would not be able to find this line in any of her writings.

It is said to be written by a woman called Elizabeth Appell.

Free Anaïs Nin Ebooks

Note: For those who like to read or download FREE ebooks by Anais Nin in English, and a couple of them in Dutch, Spanish and French, quick pop over here.

Here is Anaïs Nin’s FREE ebook “Winter Of Artifice: Three Novelettes“, where you read online or download it.

If you like to know more about the American writer Henry Miller, there is a FREE ebook titled “The Devil at Large: Erica Jong on Henry Miller“, where you can read online now.