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“I have been so flattered and stimulated by your letter that I seem to want to write you not a sheet, but a whole ream.”
– Anton Chekhov (1860—1904), from a letter to Dmitry Grigorovich (1822—1900), Moscow, dated March 28, 1886, in: “The Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov”, translated from the Russian by Sidonie Lederer
“I am amazed by the immediacy of your understanding and its affinity to mine-instantaneous, developing parallel to mine, always confidently guiding you…”
– Boris Pasternak (1890—1960), from a letter to Olga Freidenberg (1890—1955), Moscow, dated November 30, 1948, in: “The Correspondence of Boris Pasternak and Olga Freidenberg, 1910—1954″, translated from the Russian by Elliott Mossman and Margaret Wettlin
“… we’re from opposite races, from very different backgrounds and opposing worldviews and sentiments. But despite all that I love you, just like that, though I’m not hopeful. This doesn’t prevent me from loving you.”
– Gabriela Mistral (1889—1957), from a letter to Doris Dana (1920—2006), dated November 28, 1949, in: “Gabriela Mistral’s Letters to Doris Dana”, translated by Velma Garcia-Gorena
“Beloved, forgive the typing errors because of the dusk. I am ashamed that today I have only written about myself and my worries – that happens when letters don’t arrive! I embrace you now very lovingly, kiss you many times in the usual way…”
– Marie Bader (1886—1942), from a letter to Ernst Löwy (1880—1943), Karlín, dated Saturday evening, August 2, 1941, in: “Life and Love in Nazi Prague. Letters from an Occupied City. Marie Bader”, translated by Kate Ottevange
“… being an eminent author is not so great a delight… it’s a gloomy life. Work from morning to night, and not much sense to it. … Money – as scarce as hen’s teeth.
But perhaps I want no one except you when I place poppies, a great many poppies, and memory, just as much as memory…”
– Paul Celan (1920—1970), from a letter to Ingeborg Bachmann (1926—1973), dated June 20, 1949
“While I – that is, all the years until now – was sure we would meet, it never would have entered my head or my hand to thus make you visible – to me and to others. You were my secret – from all eyes, even my own. And only when I closed my eyes – did I sec you – and I saw nothing else. 1 opened my eyes – into yours. It turns out that now I simply – have pulled you out of myself – and set you against the wall – like an artist sets up a canvas – maybe farther – and stepped back.”
– Marina Tsvetaeva (1892—1941), from a letter to Boris Pasternak (1890—1960), in: “Letters. Summer 1926. Boris Pasternak. Marina Tsvetaeva, Rainer Maria Rilke”, translated from the Russian by Margaret Wettlin, Walter Arndt, Jamey Gambrell
“excuse my dark writing… my love for you is different from your love for me; it’s of a very different type and category. Excuse those pages, dear. And for a few moments try to transport yourself to a soul who learned the bad habit of suffering and of having no hope in this world”
– Gabriela Mistral (1889—1957), from a letter to Doris Dana (1920—2006), dated December 1, 1949, in “Gabriela Mistral’s Letters to Doris Dana”, translated by Velma Garcia-Gorena
“Can one live peaceably, you say, when the human race is so absurd? I submit, while saying to myself that perhaps I am as absurd as every one else and that it is time to turn my mind to correcting myself.”
– George Sand (1804—1876), from a letter to Gustave Flaubert (1821—1880), Nohant, dated January 25, 1872, in: “The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters”, translated from the French by A.L. McKenzie
“Physically I am ‘okay,’ as they say these days – mentally, too, though I am terribly exhausted spiritually. I want to say ‘mortally,’ ‘irreparably,’ for there is a limit to all things.”
– Olga Freidenberg (1890—1955), from a letter to Boris Pasternak (1890—1960), Leningrad, dated May 27, 1953, in: “The Correspondence of Boris Pasternak and Olga Freidenberg, 1910—1954″, translated from the Russian by Elliott Mossman and Margaret Wettlin
“Sorrow is better than joy – and even in mirth the heart is sad – and it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasts, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.”
– Vincent Van Gogh (1853—1890), from a letter to his brother, Theo Van Gogh (1857—1891), dated October 31, 1876, in: “The Letters Of Vincent Van Gogh”, translated from the French and Dutch by Arnold Pomerans
“You wanted a written promise, my adorable friend, you thought I would hesitate to give it: here it is: I declare that you have all rights over me and that I have none over you. Dispose of my person and of my life. Order, defend, I will obey you in everything. I aspire to no other happiness than the one you wish to give me; I want to possess nothing, I want everything I have to come from your generosity. I would willingly agree to think no longer of my fame, so as to dedicate exclusively to your particular use whatever knowledge and talents I may have. I am proud of belonging to you and being your property.”
– A.W. Schlegel (1767—1845), from a letter to Germaine de Staël (1766—1817), Coppet, dated October 18, 1805, in: “Madame de Staël. Selected correspondence”, translated from the French by Kathleen Jameson-Cemper
“My most dearly beloved treasure, I haven’t had any further news from you for a week, but just now I have such a longing for you so I am writing.”
– Marie Bader (1886—1942), from a letter to Ernst Löwy (1880—1943), Karlín, dated March 26, 1942, in: “Life and Love in Nazi Prague. Letters from an Occupied City. Marie Bader”, translated by Kate Ottevang
“I think I am getting to the point where words are inadequate. I love you.”
– Captain Hunnicutt, from a letter to Virginia Dickerson, dated January 19, 1944 – V-mail
in: “Dearest Virginia. Love Letters from a Cavalry Officer in the South Pacific”, edited by Gayle Hunnicutt
“A month and a half ago I quarreled with Zina and left her. At first I was miserable, but soon I was once more stunned by the noise, the deafening clamor of freedom, its vivacity, movement, color. And this lives beside us. What happens to it when we are not alone? I found myself transformed; once more I had faith in the future.”
– Boris Pasternak (1890—1960), referring to his second wife, Zinaida, from a letter to Olga Freidenberg (1890—1955), Moscow, dated June 8, 1941, in: “The Correspondence of Boris Pasternak and Olga Freidenberg, 1910—1954″, translated from the Russian by Elliott Mossman and Margaret Wettlin
“What bliss of resurrection I felt to see the marvellous loops of your handwriting after so many years, which seem to be capable of protecting the Celestial Garden which the Angel (now become redundant) bearing a blazing sword keeps watch over. Your kindness in writing to me like this, and so quickly (qui cito dat, bis dat) brought back to me ancient feelings that you have since martyred a little.”
– Marcel Proust (1871—1922), from a letter to Anna de Noailles (1876—1933), dated 1919 (http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.com/)
“I do not care for the body, I love the timid soul, the blushing, shrinking soul; it hides, for it is afraid…”
– Emily Dickinson (1830—1886), from a letter to Abiah Root, dated January 2, 1851
“I want to come to you, because of the new Marina who can emerge only with you, in you…”
– Marina Tsvetaeva (1892—1941), from a letter to Rainer Maria Rilke (1875—1926), in: “A Russian Psyche: The Poetic Mind Of Marina Tsvetaeva” by Alyssa W. Dinega
“Goodnight dear. If you were in my bed it might be the back of your head I was touching, where the hair is short, or it might be up in the front where it makes little caves above your head. But wherever it was, it would be the sweetest place, the sweetest place”
– Zelda Fitzgerald (1900—1948), from a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896—1940), dated 1931, in: “Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda. The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald”
“I embrace you and love you; I am happy. Sometimes when holding you in my arms, I regret not being able to be entirely yours; but when I consult only my heart, I tell myself that nothing can add to my feeling, and that I need nothing more to declare myself yours forever.”
– Prosper de Barante (1782—1866), from a letter to Germaine de Staël (1766—1817), Geneva, dated end of August, 1805, in: “Madame de Staël. Selected correspondence”, translated from the French by Kathleen Jameson-Cemper
“Still, we have the same solitude, the same journeys and searching, and the same favorite turns in the labyrinth of literature…”
– Boris Pasternak (1890—1960), from a letter to Marina Tsvetaeva (1892—1941), in: “The Same Solitude”, by Catherine Ciepiela
“… do you think, that one can love two people in the same way and that one can experience two identical sensations about them? I don’t think so, since our individuality changes at every moment of its existence.”
– Gustave Flaubert (1821—1880), from a letter to George Sand (1804—1876), dated January, 1867
in: “The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters”, translated from the French by A.L. McKenzie
“God’s earth is good. It is only we on it who are bad.”
– Anton Chekhov (1860—1904), from a letter to Alexey Suvorin (1834—1912), Moscow, dated December 9, 1889, in: “The Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov”, translated from the Russian by Sidonie Lederer
“You beautiful one – I know we belong to each other – A sweet kiss – Remember me to all. I’m with you – ”
– Alfred Stieglitz (1864—1946), from a letter to Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986), Lake George, New York, dated July 13, 1928, in: “My Faraway One. Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Volume 1, 1915—1933″
“Dear, dear boy, you are more to me than any one of them has any idea; you are the atmosphere of beauty through which I see life; you are the incarnation of all lovely things. When we are out of tune, all colour goes from things for me, but we are never really out of tune. I think of you day and night.”
– Oscar Wilde (1854—1900), from a letter to Lord Alfred Douglas (1870—1945), dated August 13, 1894, in: “Oscar Wilde: A Life In Letters” by Merlin Holland
How poor are words in conveying the heights of splendor as I would like to! Yet how rich are our hearts that they can feel – no, more, experience – these splendors! How wonderful it is that even in the most contradictory surroundings we can hold fast to this precious treasure in its fullness! And how glorious that two people like us are able, despite the poverty of speech and despite all other obstacles, to share it fully with one another!”
– Eberhard Arnold (1883—1935), from a letter to Emmy von Hollander (1884—1980), dated March 30, 1907, in: “Love letters. Eberhard Arnold and Emmy von Hollander”
“You should always protest against injustice and folly, you should bawl, froth at the mouth, and smash when you can.”
– Gustave Flaubert (1821—1880), from a letter to George Sand (1804—1876), Croisset, dated September 5, 1873, in: “The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters”, translated from the French by A.L. McKenzie
“ – A very warm and quiet kiss goes to you – and something much much more – something like a river running deep down under the surface of the earth – ”
– Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986), from a letter to Alfred Stieglitz (1864—1946), Portage, Wisconsin, dated July 27, 1928, in: “My Faraway One. Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Volume 1, 1915—1933″
“At every moment of my life, God knows, I have always feared of ending you, not God. I have tried to please you, rather than him. It was your command and not the love of God that led me to the religious life. See how unhappy, how unspeakably wretched, is the life that I am living, if I endure all this for nothing here, and can look forward to no future reward. For a long time my pretense has deceived you, as it has deceived many others, into mistaking hypocrisy for piety. So you ardently commend yourself to my prayers, demanding of me what I expect of you. Do not, I beg you, have such confidence in me that you cease helping me by your prayers. Do not, I beg you, think that I am healthy and so withdraw the grace of healing from me. Do not believe that I am not in need and put off aiding me in my necessity. Do not consider me strong, or I may collapse and fall before you can sustain me.”
– Héloïse d’Argenteuil (1101? —1163/4?), from a letter to Pierre Abelard (1079—1142), in: “The Letters of Heloise and Abelard. A translation of their correspondence and related writings”, translated from the French by Mary Martin McLaughlin with Bonnie Wheeler
“Write soon and remember all the time that I love you.”
– Captain Hunnicutt, from a letter to Virginia Dickerson, dated January 11, 1944, in: “Dearest Virginia. Love Letters from a Cavalry Officer in the South Pacific”, edited by Gayle Hunnicutt
“My treasure,
Got up to pen you a few words as you are occupying my mind like an incubus.”
– Henry Miller (1891—1980), from a letter to Brenda Venus (born 1947), dated January 27, 11:30 PM, 1978, in: “Dear, Dear Brenda: The Love Letters of Henry Miller to Brenda Venus”
“Boris, I do not write true letters. The real ones don’t even touch the paper.”
– Marina Tsvetaeva (1892—1941), from a letter to Boris Pasternak (1890—1960), in: “A Russian Psyche: The Poetic Mind Of Marina Tsvetaeva” by Alyssa W. Dinega
“I’m in a happier state than I’ve experienced since your departure – yes, truly, it’s happiness, and the best kind, this strength of love that I feel between us, this close bond uniting us amid all this gloom. I love you so. I’m not thinking about the day when I’ll see you again, any more than I ever evoke our past – I too am blocked against all memory. But I don’t need to see you – I’m not separated from you, I’m still in the same world as you.”
– Simone de Beauvoir (1908—1986), from a letter to Jean-Paul Sartre (1905—1980), Paris, dated Thursday, September 7, 1939, in: “Letters to Sartre”, translated from the French by Quintin Hoare
“I am reading now books on hygiene. Oh! but they are comic! What assurance physicians have! what effrontery! what asses for the most part! I have just finished the Gaule poetique of Marchangy (the enemy of Beranger). This book gave me hysterics.”
– Gustave Flaubert (1821—1880), from a letter to George Sand (1804—1876), dated February 28, 1874, in: “The George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters”, translated from the French by A.L. McKenzie
“Come for me this evening… I will be loving you until then just to stay patient. See you this evening! Oh, this evening will be everything!
I will give myself to you completely.”
– Juliette Drouet (1806—1883), from a letter to Victor Hugo (1802—1885), dated February 16, 1833, in: “My beloved Toto: letters from Juliette Drouet to Victor Hugo, 1833—1882″, translated from the French by Victoria Tietze Larson
“You should not worry too much about me; this is still a very advantageous patch here on earth to be living on.”
– Werner Heisenberg (1901—1976), from a letter to Elisabeth Heisenberg (1914—1998), Hechingen, dated March 9, 1945, in: “My Dear Li. Werner and Elisabeth Heisenberg. Correspondence 1937—1946″, translated from the German by Irene Heisenberg
“A kiss Sweetestheart. – The mails are very cruel. I do hope nothing has gone wrong—
or that you are ill in any way. – All crazy ideas shoot thro one’s head!”
– Alfred Stieglitz (1864—1946), from a letter to Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986), Lake George, New York, dated July 4, 1929, in: “My Faraway One. Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Volume 1, 1915—1933″
“At times I feel I have not matured at the same level with my dreams. I find myself rootless and abandoned like a stone… Without love, there is no meaning to life nor to art…”
– Mona Sa’udi (born 1945), from a letter to the editor, dated September 6, 1975, in: “Women of the Fertile Crescent: an anthology of modern poetry by Arab women”, edited by Kamal Boullata
“My Dear
I was so happy to hear you this A.M. I am just so very happy now, and I came back to bed and proceeded to write you at once.”
– Carrie Hughes (1873—1938), from a letter to Langston Hughes (1902—1967), dated August, 22, 1933, in: “My Dear Boy: Carrie Hughes’s Letters to Langston Hughes, 1926—1938”
“Sweetheart, I never could believe that you could feel that there could be anyone way down in the depth of all I am but you – ”
– Alfred Stieglitz (1864—1946), from a letter to Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986), Boston, Massachusetts, dated September 3, 1926, in: My Faraway One. Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Volume 1, 1915—1933″
“… our love will never change, & we feel that & our prayers for each other continue.”
– Alexandra Feodorovna (the last Empress of Russia, 1872—1918), from a letter to Ernest Louis (Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, 1868—1937), dated April, 1915
“Sometimes lying in bed is pleasant – and one sort – waited for, longed for.”
– Leoš Janáček (1854—1928), from a letter to Kamila Janáček (1891—1935), dated December 31, 1927, in: “Intimate Letters: Leoš Janáček to Kamila Janáček”, translated by John Tyrrell
“Good Night my Dear Little One – Just a gentle Good Night kiss – very tender – ”
– Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986), from a letter to Alfred Stieglitz (1864—1946), Madison, Wisconsin, dated July 22, 1928, in: “My Faraway One. Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Volume 1, 1915—1933″
“Although our books were open, we spoke more of love than of learning. There were more kisses than conferences. Our hands went more often to one another’s breasts than to our texts. If, to avoid suspicion, I sometimes struck her, my blows were the marks not of anger but of the tender affection that is sweeter than any perfume. Need I say more? In our passion we neglected no stage of love and if love could invent anything new, we added it. The less we had experienced these raptures, the more ardently we pursued them and the less our desire was quenched by them.”
– Pierre Abelard (1079—1142), from a letter to a friend. Letter 1: A Story of Calamities, in: “The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: A Translation of Their Collected Correspondence and Related Writings”
“I love to hear from you, but I realize you are busy and don’t have time to write, but you love me just the same don’t you?”
– Carrie Hughes (1873—1938), from a letter to Langston Hughes (1902—1967), dated May 13 [sic], 1933, in: “My Dear Boy: Carrie Hughes’s Letters to Langston Hughes, 1926—1938”
“I know more and more how much deeper you have gone into me even than my beginning – It is as tho I have had nothing else but the feeling of big open spaces – —My love to you dearest – I think we both understand – even tho we are both very difficult at times – I have wept a handkerchief wet over this…”
– Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986), from a letter to Alfred Stieglitz (1864—1946), En route from Lake George, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, dated July 12, 1928, in: “My Faraway One. Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Volume 1, 1915—1933″
“I have come back home very sad and discouraged with everything. I’m suffering, I’m weeping, I’m lamenting loudly and softly – to God, to you – and I would like to die once and for all, to be finished with all the misery, all the disappointments, all the pains. It’s as though my happiness has vanished with the fine days, and to expect them to come back – both it and them – would be almost madness, for as I look around myself and inside myself I find the season late for fine days and happy days.”
– Juliette Drouet (1806—1883), from a letter to Victor Hugo (1802—1885), dated February, 1933, in: “My beloved Toto: letters from Juliette Drouet to Victor Hugo, 1833—1882″, translated from the French by Victoria Tietze Larson
“You are a flower about to open and fully opened at the same time.”
