Dalí's art drew from his everyday life and extracted seemingly arbitrary things such as infinite desert plains, marble statues, bicycles or telephones and used them as icons, where through their isolation they became symbols for deeper emotional themes. Dalí explored his own fears and fantasies through these main symbolic images captured on canvas.

Melting Watches
The famous melting watches represent the omnipresence of time, and identify its mastery over human beings. The inspiration for this concept came from a dream of runny Camembert one hot August afternoon. These symbols represent a metaphysical image of time devouring itself and everything else.

Crutches
The crutch is one of Dalí's most important images and features in many of his works. It is first and foremost a symbol of reality and an anchor in the ground of the real world, providing spiritual and physical support for inadequacy in life. The crutch is also the symbol of tradition, upholding essential human values.

Elephants
Dalí's elephants are usually depicted with long, multijointed, almost invisible legs of desire, and carrying objects on their backs, which are also full of symbolism. These elephants represent the future and are also a symbol of strength. They are often shown carrying obelisks, which are symbols of power and domination, and not without phallic overtones. The weight supported by the animals spindly legs shows weightlessness, only made more significant by the burden on their backs.

Drawers
The drawers arise from their Freudian explanation as a representation of the concealed sexuality of women. Dalí portrays many of the drawers to be slightly ajar, indicating that their secrets are known and no longer to be feared.

Eggs
The egg is another favourite Dalínian motif, given the duality of its hard exterior and soft interior. Dalí links the egg to pre-natal images and the intra-uterine universe, and thus it is a symbol of both hope and love.

Snails
The snail occupies an important place in the Dalínian universe as it is intimately linked to a significant event in Dalí's life - his meeting with Sigmund Freud. As Dalí believed that nothing occurred to him simply by accident, he was captivated when he saw a snail on a bicycle outside Freud's house. He connected the snail with a human head, more particularly Freud's head. As with the egg and lobster, the hard shells and soft interiors of snails also fascinated Dalí, and their geometry of their curves enchanted him.

Ants
When Dalí was five years old, he saw an insect that had been eaten by ants and of which nothing remained except the shell. The swarming ants in Dalí's pictures and sculptures are references to death and decay, and are reminders of human mortality and impermanence. They are also said to represent overwhelming sexual desire.