“Nonsense is the breath of my nostrils.” — Edward Lear | V2Melody

“Nonsense is the breath of my nostrils.”

Expressing his deep attachment to playful absurdity and imaginative freedom · Letter, as commonly attributed

Art
Joy

About Edward Lear

Edward Lear

12 May 1812–29 January 1888

Edward Lear was born on 12 May 1812 at Holloway, then a semi-rural northern suburb of London, and died at San Remo, Italy, on 29 January 1888. He is now cherished as one of the great makers of English literary nonsense: the author of “The Owl and the Pussycat,” “The Jumblies,” “The Dong with a Luminous Nose,” and…

More by Edward Lear

Poems by Edward Lear

More remarks by Edward Lear

“I am very fond of children, but I do not like their parents.”

A popular attribution without a securely identified primary source · Conversation, as commonly attributed

“The more I see of life, the more I am convinced that it is a great deal of nonsense.”

Frequently attributed to Lear, but the original source is difficult to verify · Conversation or letter, as commonly attributed

Joy
Truth

“I do not write for children, but for the child in all of us, whether he be of five, fifty, or seventy-five.”

Widely attributed to Lear, though a precise primary source is not securely established · Conversation or letter, as commonly attributed