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As a gal with a master’s degree in Classical Art and Archaeology, gothic fiction reader, opera lover, regular haunter of museums, and vintage fashion wearer… Dark Academia calls to me.
Today I’m sharing some quotes that fit with the dark academia aesthetic/vibe.
These range from Classic fiction novels, to melancholy poetry, to Latin.
I hope you find something here that makes you want to sip some tea in the library, and read a gothic novel while listening to the sounds of rain and the ticking of a grandfather clock.
Or maybe you’ll simply find a quote to include in your Instagram captions.
Latin
I studied Latin during the first year of my undergraduate degree in Ancient History. I didn’t fare well to be honest with you. I found myself overwhelmed with Latin homework alongside all of my other classes. I didn’t pursue Latin any further, but through the study of Roman archaeology and literature, I learned quite a few phrases.
Here are 10 of my favourite Latin quotes:
- “per aspera ad astra” – through hardships to the stars. (If you’ve read Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, you’ll recognise this!)
- “ars longa, vita brevis” – art is long, life is short.
- “littera scripta manet” – the written letter lasts.
- “dum spiro spero” – while I breathe, I hope.
- “trahimir omnes laudis studio” – we are led on by our eagerness for praise.
- “amor vincit omnia” – love conquers all.
- “in perpetuum et unum diem” – forever and one day.
- “abyssus abyssum invocat“ – hell calls hell.
- “bibere venenum in auro“ – drink poison from a cup of gold.
- “tempus edax rerum“ – time is the devourer of things.
Classic & Gothic Fiction Quotes with a Dark Academia Vibe
11. “When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don’t seem to matter very much, do they?” – Virginia Woolf.
12. “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Edgar Allan Poe.
13. “It does not do to trust people too much.” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper.
14. “Ask no questions, and you’ll be told no lies.” – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations.
15. “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.
16. “He decided in favor of life out of sheer spite and malice.” – Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
17. “Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.” – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
18. “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
19. “He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.” – Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera.
20. “If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.” – Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights.
21. “I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.” – Bram Stoker, Dracula
22. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” – Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre.
Melancholy Poetry
23. “I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me.” – Sylvia Plath.
24. “I hate and I love. And if you ask me how, I do not know: I only feel it, and I’m torn in two.” – Catullus, I Hate and I Love.
25. “When they were tired, night rained her thick dark sleep.” – Sappho.
26. “Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another.” – Homer, The Iliad.
27. “One need not be a chamber to be haunted.” – Emily Dickinson.
I hope you feel suitably melancholy!
