65 Etel Adnan Quotes on Art, Time & Writing

Etel Adnan Quotes resonate with a profound understanding of the human experience, capturing the essence of art, time, and writing in a way that invites reflection and introspection.

Adnan’s work transcends boundaries, blending philosophy with creativity to illuminate the complexities of existence. Her unique perspective has inspired countless individuals to explore their thoughts on nature, identity, and the passage of time. 

I’ve curated 65 Quotes that not only showcase her artistic genius but also embody her insightful views on life’s fleeting moments. Each quote serves as a portal into her world where words dance alongside brushstrokes and offers readers an opportunity to go through her rich legacy.

Who is Etel Adnan?

Etel Adnan was born on February 24, 1925, in Beirut, Lebanon, to a Greek mother and a Syrian father, her diverse heritage shaped her worldview and creative expression. Adnan’s early experiences during World War II profoundly influenced her perspective.

She later captured the complexities of identity and conflict through her vivid writings and paintings. After moving to Paris in the late 1940s for studies at the Sorbonne, she immersed herself in the vibrant intellectual circles of Europe while reflecting on themes of exile and belonging.

Her works often intertwined nature with political consciousness; paintings such as those inspired by California landscapes demonstrated a unique blend of abstraction influenced by both Eastern aesthetics and Western modernism.

Her book Sitt Marie Rose, published in 1978, became an essential narrative about Lebanese history from a female perspective that resonated powerfully amid regional struggles. Etel Adnan passed away on November 14, 2021.

Profile Summary

Best Etel Adnan Quotes

Her words and reflections often intertwine themes of nature, identity, and the complexity of existence, prompting readers to reconsider their perspectives on life. The best quotes of Etel Adnan are stated:

• “Do what your inner soul tells you to do, regardless of any money or success it will bring you.”
• “Dear soul, am I only because I have been?”
• “Philosophy is a non-knowledge: thought takes pleasure in measuring its borders.” – Time
• “Beauty, it’s an inner sense, and it makes us happy. It’s not complicated, we need it.”
• “What I am really longing for is something beyond freedom, beyond disbelief.”
• “There is no such thing as a fixed identity, we are constantly evolving, always becoming.”
• “Why is the horizon of my consciousness so limited? Who set its boundaries and why?”
• “Laziness-with it’s inebriating effects- is the wine of the poor, and of those who wander 
• among them.” – Time
• “I always had a few people who liked what I did, and that was enough.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Time

Her words beckon readers to reconsider the conventional perception of past, present, and future as rigid constructs. She experiences time as a rich tapestry woven with emotions, memories, and aspirations.

This perspective reshapes our interaction with the world around us, urging individuals to find meaning in everyday moments rather than merely tracking the passage of hours.

• “They tell me there are four seasons but I live in a fifth one, which is your space and your time.”
• “Everyone lives in Time. If then one added every second lived by each of these people, lived by each of us, by all the people of the world, at this precise moment, it would make all the eternity of Time.” – Sitt Marie Rose
• “The day is not made of light, but of will.” — Time
• “Memory and time, both immaterial, are rivers with no banks and constantly merging. Both escape our will, though we depend on them. Measured but measured by whom or by what? The one is inside, the other, outside or so it seems, but is that true? Time seems also buried deep in us but where? Memory is right here, in the head, but it can exit, abandon that head, leave it behind, disappear. Memory, a sanctuary of infinite patience.” – Night
• “There are moments when the past ceases to be a form of the present. Rain and tears look alike.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Art

Her insights illuminate the idea that art is not merely an object to be observed but a powerful dialogue between the creator and the observer.

This perspective engages with art on multiple levels, encouraging a deeper exploration of colors, forms, and emotions that resonate within our own experiences.

• “Art is a mirror that reflects the depths of the human condition.”
• “Art is the sacred language of the soul, a prayer for the ephemeral beauty of existence.”
• “Art is a language without borders, it connects souls across time and space.”
• “Art is a breaking out of imprisonment. It’s self-expansion.”
• “In art, there is no right or wrong, only the expression of one’s inner truth.”
• “Art is the bridge between the tangible and the intangible, the known and the unknown.
• “Art is a rebellion against meaninglessness, a celebration of the infinite possibilities of being.”
• “Abstract art was the quivalent of poetic expression; I didn’t need to use words,but colors and lines. I didn’t need to belong to a language-oriented culture but to an open form of expression.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Painting

Her words often encapsulate how painting transcends mere aesthetics, transforming into a vehicle for exploring emotions and landscapes both physical and metaphysical.

For Adnan, each brushstroke is not just an expression but also an invitation to contemplate one’s existence within the larger weaving of life.

• “I write what I see; I paint what I am.”
• “Once I put down a color, I never cover it up. If you are born a musician, why become a banker?”
• “Colours exist for me as entities in themselves, as metaphysical beings.”
• “Mount Tamalpais became my house. For Cezanne, Sainte-Victoire was no longer a mountain. It was an absolute. It was painting.”
• “My writing and my paintings do not have a direct connection in my mind. But I am sure they influence each other in the measure that everything we do is linked to whatever we are, which includes whatever we have done or are doing.”
• “Usually, I am a compulsive person, and I need – sometimes urgently – to paint… Painting is close to poetry, is a kind of poetry expressed visually. It has to be spontaneous, rapid – at least in my case.”
• “I love Nicolas de Stael particularly, and my work can remind people of him. But looked at attentively, our works are not similar at all.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Writing

Her throwing back on writing reveals writing is not merely an act of putting words together but a deeply introspective journey that allows individuals to explore their identity and confront their inner landscapes.

Each word carries weight, acting as a bridge connecting her thoughts to the world around her. This approach inspires writers to view their craft as both a personal exploration and a meaningful dialogue.

• “The books I’m writing are houses that I build for myself.”
• “Writing is like a dance, a delicate balance between control and surrender.”
• “Writing is a way of avoiding death and sickness; it doesn’t solve anything, but it forges a feeling of companionship.”
• “I write with a passion, with a longing for something more, something beyond, something infinite.”
• “Writing is drawing, drawing is writing. Because it’s the same gesture. They’re close already.”
• “I didn’t want to read French or write it; it was like a boycott, a rejection.”
• “Writing is an act of faith, a belief in the power of words to change the world.”
• “Words are my tools, my weapons, my refuge.”
• “Writing is a form of prayer, a communion with something larger than ourselves.”
• “To write is to listen, to open oneself to the whispers of the universe.”
• “There is no greater satisfaction than to see one’s thoughts take form on the page.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Being an Artist

Being an artist goes beyond technical skill; it’s fundamentally about embracing one’s unique vision and the courage to share it with the world. In a landscape often dominated by commercial pressures, her thoughts serve as a reminder that authenticity is paramount.

An artist must navigate personal truths, transforming them into something universal, which speaks to audiences far beyond their immediate experiences.

• “The artist’s role is to challenge perceptions, to question the unquestioned.”
• “Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, it’s in the heart of the artist.”
• “Every stroke of the brush, every word on the page, is an act of creation, a defiance against destruction.”
• “To be able to love is an art, it requires training in the complexities of the heart.”
• “To create is to resist, it’s an act of rebellion against the status quo.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Love

Her thoughts often transcend mere sentimentality, encouraging the view of love as a force that shapes our identities and perceptions of the world.

Adnan suggests that love is not solely about attachment; it serves as a lens through which we can observe beauty and connection in our surroundings.

• “Love in all its forms is the most important matter that we will ever face, but also the most dangerous, the most unpredictable, the most maddening. But it is also the only salvation I know of.” – The Cost for Love We are Not Willing to Pay
• “Spring is dangerous, like love. And love survives the lovers.” – Seasons
• “If you aren’t here your heart won’t break in the same way.”
• “I love rains which carry desires to oceans.”
• “Night is an element of love; like fog. It liberates space, lets freshness cross it. Its magic elevates the body, brings to the surface the mystery of just being alive, being. With or without stars and galaxies, the sky becomes a private territory—the imagination’s own scope. These are moments when one reaches all there is between the moon and oneself.” — The Cost for Love We are Not Willing to Pay

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Life & Death

Her insights reveal a delicate balance between the transient nature of life and the acceptance of mortality.

Through her poetic lens understanding death enriches our experience of living; it prompts us to embrace each moment with authenticity and urgency.

• “The fact that philosophy is not a break with daily life, and that daily life is poetry.”
• “Not seeing rivers is also another way of dying.”
• “Places are part of nature, of the bigger picture. We are interrelated. When we contemplate them in their own right, they can sometimes change our lives; they can become spiritual experiences.”
• “Eternity is non evident. There’s this endless rotation of the sun in the skull, the stillness outside, and a storm within. At least a river is always flowing in some part of the country.”
• “Winds, always gathering speed, shatter the order of things. We return home, in tears.” – Night
• “There are not millions of deaths. It happens millions of times that someone dies.”
• “Morning. Vast. Imprecision. Fog has covered everything in gray absolute. This has lasted. Doubt looms over the mind. Absence is harder to accept than death. – Sea & Fog
• “Terror is our collective failure. Life is nature’s triumph.”

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Silence

In a world often characterized by noise and chaos, her thoughts remind us that silence is not merely the absence of sound but a powerful space for introspection and connection.

Adnan’s perception encourages moments of quiet as opportunities for deep listening both to oneself and the surrounding world. Here are quotations on silence:

• “Silence is both a source of mystery and a means of liberation.”
• “Silence is the creation of space, a space that memory needs to use . . . an incubator. We’re dealing here with dimensions, stretching our inner muscles, pushing aside any interference. We’re dealing with numbers, but not counting. Silence demands the nature of night, even in full day, it demands shadows.” – Shifting the Silence
• “Words melt in reflections; that’s why there’s a uselessness to this night, to my missing the river, to the delaying of love…light is picking up momentum in the vicinity of the oaks that cover this property, this silence.” – Night

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on Man & Woman

Her observations challenge the reconsideration of societal norms around masculinity and femininity, illuminating how deeply these constructs influence our relationships and identities.

Adnan explores a more interconnected understanding of humanity, one that celebrates diversity while recognizing commonality.

• “Their women only exert indirect powers over them, powers that seem ineffective, or else are so strong that they, the men, can’t recognize them as such. But a woman who stands up to them and looks them in the eye is a tree to be cut down, and they cut it down. She falls with the sound of dead wood which disappears among the perfidious murmurings of the city, and to the smirking of other women who are satisfied with the male victories.”
• “Morality is violence. An invisible violence at first. Love is a supreme violence, hidden deep in the darkness of our atoms. When a stream flows into a river, it’s love and it’s violence. When a cloud loses itself in the sky, it’s a marriage. When the roots of a tree split open a rock it’s the movement of life. When the sea rises and falls back only to rise again it’s the process of History. When a man and a woman find each other in the silence of the night, it’s the beginning of the end of the tribe’s power, and death itself becomes a challenge to the ascendancy of the group.” – Sitt Marie Rose

Etel Adnan’s Quotes on the Universe

Her revelation about the universe illuminates the deep interconnectedness of existence, inviting readers to contemplate their place within the vast cosmos.

Her words often transcend mere contemplation, encouraging a sense of wonder that reevaluates our relationship with nature and the universe at large.

Understand that every star and celestial body is not merely a distant object in a dark sky but an integral part of a grand narrative that shapes our very being.

• “The universe is an immense meadow in which our symbolic gestures of love get swallowed up.”
• “We were taught to think that Paris was the center of the universe.”
• “It is a sentiment of tremendous truth and simplicity, yet tremendously difficult for the mind to metabolize — we remain material creatures, spiritually sundered by the fact of our borrowed atoms, which we will each return to the universe, to the stardust that made us, despite our best earthly efforts.”

Conclusion

In exploring the profound insights captured in the Etel Adnan quotes, we gain a deeper understanding of her unique perspective on art, time, and writing. Her reflections not only illuminate her creative process but also invite us to reconsider our relationship with these themes in our lives.

Adnan encourages us to embrace the complexities of existence and find beauty in both the ephemeral and the enduring. If you are an artist seeking inspiration or a reader looking for wisdom, these quotes serve as a valuable resource.

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