8 Quotes & Sayings By Natalie Clifford Barney

Natalie Clifford Barney (born Natalie Clifford, 1876-1943) is best known as Natalie Clifford Barney. A prominent lesbian, she was one of the first female writers to describe her life as a lesbian. An early participant in the New York City literary scene, she is also known for her poetry and short fiction, which includes "The She-devil" (published in The Little Review in 1914), which was later anthologized in The Best American Short Stories of 1918. Her most famous work is "The Awakening Conscience" (1913), an autobiographical account of the disintegration of her marriage.

1
When you're in love you never really know whether your elation comes from the qualities of the one you love, or if it attributes them to her; whether the light which surrounds her like a halo comes from you, from her, or from the meeting of your sparks. Natalie Clifford Barney
2
At first, when an idea, a poem, or the desire to write takes hold of you, work is a pleasure, a delight, and your enthusiasm knows no bounds. But later on you work with difficulty, doggedly, desperately. For once you have committed yourself to a particular work, inspiration changes its form and becomes an obsession, like a love-affair… which haunts you night and day! Once at grips with a work, we must master it completely before we can recover our idleness. Natalie Clifford Barney
3
It's necessary to use suffering. Otherwise, one is used by it. Natalie Clifford Barney
4
Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed. Natalie Clifford Barney
5
Fatalism is a lazy man's way of accepting the inevitable. Natalie Clifford Barney
6
Youth is not a question of years: one is young or old from birth. Natalie Clifford Barney
7
Paris has always seemed ... the only city where you can live and express yourself as you please. Natalie Clifford Barney