The Quotable Anais Nin: 365 Quotations with Citations

by Anaïs Nin, Paul Herron (Editor)

Besides her famous diaries and erotica, Anaïs Nin (1903-1977) is known for her inspirational and insightful quotations. When one googles “Anaïs Nin quotes,” more than 21,000 websites appear, making her one of the most oft-quoted authors on the web. This alone is reason enough to collect her most popular and meaningful quotations into one book, but there is another as the inaccuracies and misinformation which frequently occur in our cut-and-paste internet culture. The Quotable Anaïs Nin rectifies these errors by taking each quotation word for word directly from its source and accurately citing it. If a quotation found on the web does not exist in Nin’s work, it is not included here, which means some popular sayings attributed to Nin are absent. Examples of this include the poem “Risk,” which begins with “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud…” and “Good things happen to those who hustle.” Not only do these quotations not belong to Nin, evidence suggests that the true authors are Elizabeth Appell and Chuck Noll, respectively. There are probably dozens of other misattributed “Nin quotes” floating around the web. The contents of The Quotable Anaïs Nin are divided into general themes that reflect the general characteristics of Nin’s lust for life, love and sensuality, consciousness, men and women, and writing and art. Within each category, the quotations are arranged and numbered according to the title of their sources. Quotations from Nin’s unpublished diaries are cited as “unpublished diary, 1948,” etc. The novels included in Cities of the Interior are cited using the pagination from the collection, not the individually published novels. When quotations appear in more than one source, the following protocol is the quote from the earliest source is used unless the wording in a newer source is more widely known. For example, in the original handwritten diary of the 1940s, Nin wrote, “Life shrinks in proportion to one’s courage,” which appears in The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1939-1947 (published in 2013). During the editing process for the third volume of The Diary of Anaïs Nin (published in 1969), Nin changed the wording to “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage,” which is the most recognizable version and, therefore, the one used here. The Quotable Anaïs Nin is not only a useful reference book, it is also a source of thought-provoking and stimulating quotations, one for each day of the year. The fact that this book is digitally searchable will surely enhance its value to readers and scholars alike.

Genres: Erotica

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2014

About the author

Writer and diarist, born in Paris to a Catalan father and a Danish mother, Anaïs Nin spent many of her early years with Cuban relatives. Later a naturalized American citizen, she lived and worked in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Author of avant-garde novels in the French surrealistic style and collections of erotica, she is best known for her life and times in The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volumes I-VII (1966-1980).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%...

Reviews

[Diana Raab · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who admires Anaïs Nin and often quotes her, I have to say that Herron's book has it all. My only disappointment is that I didn't think of collecting and compiling Nin's quotes myself!
The book includes 365 quotations and citations, all honoring one of my favorite writers and diarists.

As Herron says in his Introduction, when you Google Nin quotes, more than 480,000 websites appear, "making her one of the most oft-quoted authors on the web." In many cases, well-known individuals are often misquoted, but Herron avoids this by sharing the original source of each quote, making this a credible resource.

The book is divided into sections highlighting Nin's favorite subjects-lust for life, love and sensuality, consciousness, women and men, and writing and art. This is a valuable reference book and also a way to access all of Nin's other writings. Highly recommended.

[chasingholden · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is very familiar with and very fond of Anais Nin such as myself this book is absolutely perfect! This would also be a great introduction to exploring Nin's philosophy, writing style, and personality which would be useful in aiding your decision to read more (and you should!)

This book has it all. So many quotes that felt like they were pulled from my own thoughts or wrapped around my own heart. I rarely feel such a connection to an author as I did through reading The Quotable Anais Nin. There are many quotes floating around the net claiming to have been taken from Anais Nin that are simply unfounded, otherwise sourced to other writers, and some that are incomplete or misworded. If you care about reading the actual thoughts on life this collection is calling your name!

[Robin Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Like reading the mind of a poetic Einstein

Anais Nin captures what we think, and dare not say. She’s whimsical, wildly honest and in love all at the same time. You can almost HEAR her reflections, as if she’s writing only for herself and you get the inside view of a true artist. Brilliant read.

[Richard Millsap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Limited selection of interesting, self-absorbed quotes--often quite brief--with sources cited. Occasionally meaningful.

[elissamariesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

sooo many gems

[Jalyn McNeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love ha

[Eli Liszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anis Nin is revered as erotic for her writings. She is raw in her word choice yet powerful in so many ways. She has the courage to say what we as women are thinking but too afraid to vocalize.

[Chrissi Sepe · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Quotable Anais Nin” is a dream book for every Nin fan. It is a collection of 365 Nin quotes – one for each day of the year. The quotes are compiled from her diaries released many years ago but also from 2013's “Mirages” and the soon-to-be-released “Trapeze,” which was a pleasant surprise!

As I read through the first pages, I quickly became absorbed in Nin's life and fascinating mind as I was reminded of the larger works the quotes are culled from. Once I found myself again swept into Nin's world, I couldn't put the book down.

Nearly daily, I come across Nin's quotes on the web. Some are incredibly Tweet-worthy:

“With a hammer and nails, paint, soap, money, typewriter, cookbook, douche bags, I created a dream.”

Others are so deep, you get lost inside them and feel you are reading a literary novel as opposed to a quotes book:

“You live this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book...or you take a trip...and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken.”

Nin was a deep thinker and revolutionary, not only for her time but even for today. It took guts to live as she chose to – not conforming to society's rules according to how a woman is supposed to think, feel and behave. Nin wrote fiction but is primarily remembered for her diaries. Diary writing in general is criticized as self-indulgent, but Nin defends this theory:

“People think this exploration of self is self-centered and selfish, but I notice that whenever I clear up something for myself it quickly affects everyone around me, as if it were a psychic liberation which in turn affects others' conflicts...It is more powerful than the self-sacrifice of the so-called selfless ones.”

Nin wrote her diaries to heal herself, but by doing so, she healed those she cared about in her life and also all of us diary readers in the future. “The Quotable Anais Nin” is not only a satisfying read for those already familiar with her but is the perfect place to start for those just developing an interest for this unique, talented, and forever complex woman.

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the more interesting daily reading books I have gone through. Some of the quotes are quite pithy, others more abstract and obtuse (but perhaps I just didn't spend enough time thinking about them). In any case Anais Nin functions and thinks on a very deeply emotional level, which was a nice challenge for me as I went through the book.

[Mary Anne Author]

Beautifully produced ...thought provoking.
Anais Nin is a legend as she challenges our consciousness. Her writing is transformative.