Stephen Crane > Quotes

“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

“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

“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, The Open Boat

“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

“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

“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

“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 land and trees?”
― Stephen Crane, The Open Boat and Other Stories

“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 Original Version

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

“Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky And the affrighted steed ran on alone, Do not weep.
War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment, Little souls who thirst for fight, These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory flies above them, Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom -A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.”
― Stephen Crane

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

“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 singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats. In a ten-foot dinghy one can get an idea of the resources of the sea in the line of waves that is not probable to the average experience, which is never at sea in a dinghy.”
― Stephen Crane, The Open Boat

“Mother, whose heart hung humble as a button the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind.”
― Stephen Crane

“He saw that it was an ironical thing for him to be running thus toward that which he had been at such pains to avoid.”
― 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

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

“She thinks my name is Freddie, you know, but of course it ain't. I
always tell these people some name like that, because if they got onto
your right name they might use it sometime. Understand?”
― Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

“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

“Nevertheless, he had, on a certain star-lit evening, said wonderingly and quite reverently: "Deh moon looks like hell, don't it?”
― Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

“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

“They would jeer him, and, if practicable, pelt him with missiles.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage

“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

“The ranks opened covertly to avoid the corpse. The invulnerable dead man forced a way for himself. The youth looked keenly at the ashen face. The wind raised the tawny beard. It moved as if a hand were stroking it. 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

“As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Short Fiction

“Within him, as he hurled himself forward, was born a love, a despairing fondness for this flag which was near him. It was a creation of beauty and invulnerability. It was a goddess, radiant, that bended its form with an imperious gesture to him. It was a woman, red and white, hating and loving, that called him with the voice of his hopes. Because no harm could come to it he endowed it with power. He kept near, as if it could be a saver of lives, and an imploring cry went from his mind.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Short Fiction

“XXVI

There was set before me a mighty hill,
And long days I climbed
Through regions of snow.
When I had before me the summit-view,
It seemed my labor
Had been to see gardens
Lying at impossible distances.”
― Stephen Crane

“LVI

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

“LCVI

If I should cast off this tattered coat,
And go free into the mighty sky;
If I should find nothing there
But a bast blue,
Echoless, ignorant,-
What then?”
― Stephen Crane

“IV

Yes, I have a thousand tongues,
And nine and nighty-nine lie.
Though I strive to use the one,
It will make no melody at my will,
But is dead in my mouth.”
― Stephen Crane

“XX

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 me feet.
I clung to the hand of my friend;
But at last he cried, "I am lost.”
― 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

“There were many who went in huddled procession,
They knew not wither,
But, at any rate, success or calamity
Would attend all in equality.

There was one who sought a new road,
He went into direful thickets,
And ultimately he died thus, alone;
But they said he had courage.”
― Stephen Crane, Poems of Stephen Crane

“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-smote, ice-locked, disease-stricken, space-lost bulb.”
― Stephen Crane

“The maddened four men followed frantically, for it is better to be in the presence of the awful than only within hearing. ("The Black Dog")”
― Stephen Crane, The Portable Stephen Crane