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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker denies believing in ghosts yet feels pursued by them, suggesting a psychological or metaphorical haunting.
In plain terms
I say I don't believe in ghosts but I feel chased by them always.
What can you take from it?
Denial does not stop fear.

Where it applies

  • personal struggle
  • psychological analysis
  • storytelling

Putting it to work

  • face fears
  • analyze guilt
  • write horror

Questions to consider

  • What haunts you?
  • Do you deny your fears?

Another view

It conflates literal belief with metaphorical experience.

More from Edgar Allan Poe

  1. I have become insane with random intervals of horrible sanity.

    Permalink to quote #98
  2. He was an adventurer into the vaults and cellars and horrible underground passages of the human soul. He sounded the horror and the warning of his own doom.

    Permalink to quote #100
  3. Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.

    Permalink to quote #97

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