Stephen Crane > Quotes

“A Man Said to the Universe

A man said to the universe:
“Sir, I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
― Stephen Crane, War Is Kind and Other Poems

“In the Desert

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”
― Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other Lines

“When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples.”
― Stephen Crane, Open Boat

“It was not well to drive men into final corners; at those moments they could all develop teeth and claws.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“If I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?”
― Stephen Crane, The Open Boat and Other Stories

“Tell her this
And more,—
That the king of the seas
Weeps too, old, helpless man.
The bustling fates
Heap his hands with corpses
Until he stands like a child
With surplus of toys.”
― Stephen Crane, The Complete Poems of Stephen Crane

“Think as I think," said a man, "or you are abominably wicked; you are a toad." And after I thought of it, I said, "I will, then, be a toad.”
― Stephen Crane

“When the suicide arrived at the sky, the people there asked him: "Why?" He replied: "Because no one admired me.”
― Stephen Crane, The Complete Poems of Stephen Crane

“Sometimes, the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest of moments.”
― Stephen Crane

“Two or three angels
Came near to the earth.
They saw a fat church.
Little black streams of people
Came and went in continually.
And the angels were puzzled
To know why the people went thus,
And why they stayed so long within.”
― Stephen Crane, The Complete Poems of Stephen Crane

“But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart.”
― - Stephen Crane

“Half of tradition is a lie.”
― Stephen Crane

“A learned man came to me once.
He said, "I know the way, -- come."
And I was overjoyed at this.
Together we hastened.
Soon, too soon, were we
Where my eyes were useless,
And I knew not the ways of my feet.
I clung to the hand of my friend;
But at last he cried, "I am lost.”
― Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other Lines

“The man had arrived at that stage of drunkenness where affection is felt for the universe.”
― Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

“When the prophet, a complacent fat man,
Arrived at the mountain-top
He cried: "Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands—
But the scene is grey.”
― Stephen Crane, The Complete Poems of Stephen Crane

“XXIV

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never-"

"You lie" he cried
And ran on.”
― Stephen Crane

“He vaguely desired to walk around and around the body and stare; the impulse of the living to try to read in dead eyes the answer to the Question.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“A MAN FEARED

A man feared that he might find an assassin;
Another that he might find a victim.
One was more wise than the other.”
― Stephen Crane

“Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature.”
― Stephen Crane, The Open Boat and Other Stories

“XXVIII

"Truth," said a traveller,
"Is a rock, a mighty fortress;
"Often have I been to it,
"Even to its highest tower,
"From whence the world looks black."

"Truth," said a traveller,
"Is a breath, a wind,
"A shadow, a phantom;
"Long have I pursued it,
"But never have I touched
"The hem of its garment."

And I believed the second traveller;
For truth was to me
A breath, a wind,
A shadow, a phantom,
And never had I touched
The hem of its garment.”
― Stephen Crane

“But he said, in substance, to himself that if the earth and moon were about to clash, many persons would doubtless plan to get upon the roofs to witness the collision.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“It perhaps might be said--if any one dared--that the most worthless literature of the world has been that which has been written by the men of one nation concerning the men of another.”
― Stephen Crane, The Portable Stephen Crane

“A serious prophet upon predicting a flood should be the first man to climb a tree. This would demonstrate that he was indeed a seer.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
― Stephen Crane, War Is Kind and Other Poems

“Over the river a golden ray of sun came through the hosts of leaden rain clouds.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“So it came to pass that as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath his soul changed.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“They were going to look at war, the red
animal--war, the blood-swollen god.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“We picture the world as thick with conquering and elate humanity, but here, with the bugles of the tempest peeling, it was hard to imagine a peopled earth. One viewed the existence of man then as a marvel, and conceded a glamour of wonder to these lice which were caused to cling to a whirling, fire-smitten, ice-locked, disease-stricken, space-lost bulb. The conceit of man was explained by this storm to be the very engine of life. One was a coxcomb not to die in it.”
― Stephen Crane, Blue Hotel

“The girl, Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle.”
― Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

“A man with a full stomach and the respect of his fellows had no business to scold about anything that he might think to be wrong in the ways of the universe, or even with the ways of society. Let the unfortunates rail; the others may play marbles.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage