HP Lovecraft, the great American horror writer and inventor of the cosmic horror genre (he coined the term "cosmic horror," and gave us Cthulhu), was a prolific author. The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Dunwich Horror, and Dagon are some of his most famous stories. What is interesting about HPL's work is that it reflects an insular world view.
Here are 20 HP Lovecraft quotes from his books that will help you understand his point of view. This article includes HP Lovecraft quotes about fear, on mind and more. ENJOY!
A. Quotes On Fear
1. "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
2. "Ultimate horror often paralyses memory in a merciful way."
3. "Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness."
4. "Fear best lends itself to the creation of Nature-defying illusions."
5. "It is a mistake to fancy that horror is associated inextricably with darkness, silence, and solitude."
6. "No new horror can be more terrible than the daily torture of the commonplace."
7. "Never explain anything."
8. "I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men."
B. Quotes On Creative Mind
9. "At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour.
10. "Creative minds are uneven, and the best of fabrics have their dull spots."
C. Deep Meaning Quotes
11. "The world is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind."
12. "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane."
13. "There are not many persons who know what wonders are opened to them in the stories and visions of their youth; for when as children we learn and dream, we think but half-formed thoughts, and when as men we try to remember, we are dulled and prosaic with the poison of life. But some of us awake in the night with strange phantasms of enchanted hills and gardens, of fountains that sing in the sun, of golden cliffs overhanging murmuring seas, of plains that stretch down to sleeping cities of bronze and stone, and of shadowy companies of heroes that ride caparisoned white horses along the edges of thick forests; and then we know that we have looked back through the ivory gates into that world of wonder which was ours before we were wise and unhappy."
14. "We all know that any emotional bias, irrespective of truth or falsity, can be implanted by suggestion in the emotions of the young, hence the inherited traditions of an orthodox community are absolutely without evidential value …"
15. "The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
16. "It is better to laugh at man from outside the universe, than to weep for him within."
17. "Memories and possibilities are even more hideous than realities."
18. "The most merciful thing in the world... is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."
19. "It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth's dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be left alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.''
20. "The 'Man of Truth' has learned that Illusion is the One Reality, and that Substance is the great impostor."
D. HP Lovecraft Quotes That Is Not Dead (Bonus)
21. "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die."
22. "We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."
23. "When the stars were right, They could plunge from world to world through the sky; but when the stars were wrong, They could not live."
Conclusion:
HP Lovecraft is a great writer and a great source of inspiration for many people. We hope you enjoyed these quotes from HP Lovecraft. If you have any questions about these quotes then leave a comment below; And share these article with your friends. Read more about HP Lovecraft here.