#anais nïn

[ardent-reflections]

"I can only connect deeply or not at all."

Anais Nin

[mvnzr]

[embeccy]

"I was always ashamed to take. So I gave. It was not a virtue. It was a disguise."

- Anaïs Nin

[petaltexturedskies]

I've never been afraid of loneliness because l've never felt the need to justify my feelings to myself. I accept the muteness of feeling too. I have huge respect for my own silence. I let it speak. I allow time to do its trick and lead me back to myself. I don't want just anyone to share life and myself with me. But I want life. Life, at all cost. And I want to feel wanted, needed and loved by someone as alive in spirit as me.

Anaïs Nin, from the diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. V: 1947-1955

[thepursuitofunderstanding]

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.

Anais Nin

[oldwinesoul]

Letters. I owe you many, but I cannot write letters. I have forgotten how to write, forgotten pain, learning and thought. The only books I am interested in are the ones you have marked. There must be a you in them.

—A Literate Passion: Letters of Anais Nin and Henry Miller, 1932-1953

[sleeping-beautys-kisses]

[divinecouture]

[gatabella]

"When I was a teenager, my parents might have thought I was a little crazy for going out dressed the way I did - vintage hats and dresses paired with corsets mostly. Sometimes I would even dress in man drag Dietrich style. When I was 18, I remember being inspired by an erotic novel by Anais Nin and I wanted to dress like a lesbian in 1930s Paris, so I found a vintage tuxedo, combed my hair into marcel waves, and trotted out the door, Bakelite cigar holder hanging from my burgundy lips. They were probably more amused by me than anything, not horrified."

- Dita von Teese

[conscious-pisces]

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

—Anais Nin

[swingtoscano]

Noi viaggiamo,

alcuni di noi per sempre,

a cercare altre situazioni,

altre vite,

altre anime.

Anaïs Nin

[ardent-reflections]

Had I not created my whole world, I would certainly have died in other people's.

Anais Nin

[belovedapollo]

— Anaïs Nin

[embeccy]

"I feel the need to swing away from constant explanations. I want to run away from too much consciousness, too much awareness. At night, I seek dancing, friendships, nature, forgetfulness, music, or sleep."

- Anaïs Nin

[petaltexturedskies]

Spring evening, soft and balmy and beautiful. The smell of the earth rose in the stillness like a dream cloud.

Anaïs Nin, The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1920–1923

[thepursuitofunderstanding]

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

Anais Nin