Find Your Favorite Pablo Neruda Quote (With Sources & Meanings)

Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize-winning poet-diplomat and politician from Chile. He began writing poems when he was only 10 years old and later became a known poet when he was 13.

He wrote in a variety of ways, including historical epics, surrealist poems, overtly political manifestos, and romantic love poems. Due to his unwavering talent and poetic mastery, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 1971.

Neruda had prostate cancer and was hospitalized at the time of the coup d’état led by a Chilean general and dictator. After a few days in the hospital, Neruda returned home when he speculated that a doctor of injected him with an unknown substance.

He then died in his home on September 23, 1973, just hours after leaving the hospital. The reports state that he died due to heart failure, but many believed that he had been killed under questionable circumstances.

Neruda is often recognized as the national poet of Chile, and his works and influence are known worldwide. Here is a list of beautiful Pablo Neruda quotes and sayings that explore his views about hope, politics, life, and much more.

Fun fact: Neruda once said he chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda to hide his writing from his disapproving father!

Pablo Neruda Quotes on Love & Romance

Neruda’s love poetry is legendary, celebrated for its vulnerability and passion. Here are his most powerful reflections on love:

1. “I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”
   — from “Sonnet XVII,” 100 Love Sonnets (1959)
   This iconic line reveals the mystery and depth of Neruda’s conception of love—private, profound, and transformative.
2. “So I wait for you like a lonely house till you will see me again and live in me. Till then my windows ache.”
   — from “The House of the Star,” 100 Love Sonnets (1959)
   A vivid image of longing and devotion, showing how love fills the emptiness within us.
3. “Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”
   — from “Tonight I Can Write,” Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924)
   Perhaps his most famous line, this quote captures the bittersweet pain of lost love.
4. “In one kiss, you’ll know all I haven’t said.”
   — from 100 Love Sonnets (1959)
   A celebration of the intimacy and communication that exists beyond words.
5. “I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
   — from “Every Day You Play,” Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924)
   A sensual metaphor for love’s power to renew and transform.

Pablo Neruda Quotes on On Life & Existence

Neruda often wrote about the meaning of life, purpose, and the ordinary moments that give it shape.

1. “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.”
   — from Selected Poems
   A symbol of hope and resilience—no matter the setbacks, life’s renewal is unstoppable.
2. “To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.”
   — from Memoirs (1974)
   He reflects on the sustaining, nourishing power of human connection.
3. “Someday, somewhere—anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.”
   — from The Book of Questions (1974)
   A meditation on self-discovery and its joys and challenges.

Pablo Neruda Quotes on Nature & The World

Nature is a recurring character in Neruda’s work—sensual, vibrant, and ever-present.

1. “I need the sea because it teaches me.”
   — from “The Sea,” The Captain’s Verses (1952)
   Neruda finds life’s lessons in the sea’s constancy and power.
2. “Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly.”
   — from “The Light Wraps You,” 100 Love Sonnets (1959)
   A masterful image, showing how he fuses emotion and landscape.

Pablo Neruda Quotes on Politics & Social Justice

Neruda was deeply political, and many quotes reflect his belief in justice and solidarity.

1. “Poetry is an act of peace.”
   — Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1971
   He believed art could change the world for the better.
2. “I have always wanted the hands of people to be seen in poetry.”
   — from Memoirs (1974)
   A tribute to ordinary people, the heart of his political vision.

Pablo Neruda Quotes on Creativity & Art

On writing, inspiration, and the role of poetry:

1. “If you do not climb, you will not fall. This is true. But neither will you fly.”
   — from The Book of Questions (1974)
   An invitation to risk, create, and seek the unknown.
2. “Poetry is born in silence.”
   — from Memoirs (1974)
   He found creativity in stillness and reflection.

Pablo Neruda Quotes on Loss & Grief

Facing heartbreak and sorrow, Neruda’s words offer comfort and perspective.

1. “Tonight I can write the saddest lines.”
   — from “Tonight I Can Write,” Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924)
   A line that has consoled countless broken hearts.
2. “Absence is a house so vast that inside you will pass through its walls and hang pictures on the air.”
   — from Absence, Selected Poems
   Grief becomes a space, inhabited and transformed.

Pablo Neruda Quotes on Hope & Inspiration

Uplifting thoughts to inspire readers:

1. “Laughter is the language of the soul.”
   — from Memoirs (1974)
   A joyful call to live fully.
2. “He who has nothing—it has been said many times—has nothing to lose but his chains.”
   — from Memoirs (1974)
   A message of hope for change and freedom.

Pablo Neruda’s Gift to the Human Spirit

Pablo Neruda’s words transcend borders and decades. Whether in love, struggle, or contemplation, his poetry invites us to look deeper, love harder, and never lose hope. May these quotes inspire your own journey.