William Blake Quotes - Page 2

The following Discourse [on art, by Sir Joshua Reynolds] is particularly Interesting to Blockheads as it endeavours to prove that There is No such thing as Inspiration & that any Man of a plain Understanding may by Thieving from Others become a Mich Angelo.

Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.

Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.

Eternity is in love with the productions of time.

He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence.

Active evil is better than passive good

Time is the mercy of Eternity without Time's swiftness/ Which is the swiftest of all things: all were eternal torment.

Dip him in the river who loves water.

The ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the end of six thousand years is true, as I have heard from Hell.For the cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his guard at tree of life, and when he does, the whole creation will be consumed, and appear infinite, and holy whereas it now appears finite & corrupt.

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite.

Answer this to yourselves, & expel from among you those who pretend to despise the labours of Art & Science, which alone are the labours of the Gospel: Is not this plain & manifest to the thought? Can you think at all, & not pronounce heartily! That to Labour in Knowledge. is to Build up Jerusalem: and to Despise Knowledge, is to Despise Jerusalem & her Builders. And remember: He who despises & mocks a Mental Gift in another; calling it pride & selfishness & sin; mocks Jesus the giver of every Mental Gift. which always appear to the ignorance-loving Hypocrite, as Sins. but that which is a Sin in the sight of cruel Man. is not so in the sight of our kind God.

Tools were made and born were hands Every farmer understands.

Vision is the end of religion.

The stars are threshed, and the souls are threshed from their husks.

I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.

There is a Moment in each Day that Satan cannot find

To see a World in a grain of sand,And a Heaven in a wild flower,Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,And Eternity in an hour.

A truth that's told with bad intent - beats all the lies you can invent.

If a thing loves, it is infinite.

You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue, and you cannot have Moral Virtue without the slavery of that half of the human race who hate what you call Moral Virtue.

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,Who countest the steps of the Sun:Seeking after that sweet golden climeWhere the traveller's journey is done. Where the Youth pined away with desire,And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow: Arise from their graves and aspire, Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

Better to shun the bait than struggle in the snare.

excuse my enthusiasm or rather madness, for I am really drunk with intellectual vision whenever I take a pencil or graver into my hand.

Thou art a manGod is no moreThy own humanityLearn to adore

The naked woman’s body is a portion of eternity too great for the eye of man.

Oh! why was I born with a different face? why was I not born like the rest of my race? when I look,each one starts! when I speak, I offend; then Im silent & passive & lose every friend. Then my verse I dishonour, my pictures despise, my person degrade & my temper chastise; and the pen is my terror, the pencil my shame; all my talents I bury, and dead is my fame. Im either too low or too highly prized; when elate I m envy'd, when meek Im despis'd

He who mocks the infant's faithShall be mock'd in age and death.He who shall teach the child to doubtThe rotting grave shall ne'er get out.He who respects the infant's faithTriumphs over hell and death.The child's toys and the old man's reasonsAre the fruits of the two seasons.- "Auguries of Innocence

For Mercy has a human heart;Pity, a human face;And Love, the human form divine:And Peace the human dress.Songs of InnocenceCruelty has a human heartAnd jealousy a human face,Terror the human form divine,And secrecy the human dress.The human dress is forged iron,The human form a fiery forge,The human face a furnace seal'd,The human heart its hungry gorge.Songs of Experience - This poem was discovered posthumously.

To Mercy Pity Peace and Love All pray in their distress.

When i tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do.

The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity, too great for the eye of man.

A truth that's told with bad intentBeats all the lies you can invent.

The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how they dared so roundly to assert, that God spoke to them; and whether they did not think at the time, that they would be misunderstood, & so be the cause of imposition.Isaiah answer'd, I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical perception; but my senses discover'd the infinite in every thing, and as I was then persuaded, & remain confirm'd; that the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences but wrote.

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is - infinite.

I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity.

Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

A robin redbreast in a cagePuts all heaven in a rage.A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeonsShudders hell thro' all its regions.A dog starv'd at his master's gatePredicts the ruin of the state.A horse misused upon the roadCalls to heaven for human blood.Each outcry of the hunted hareA fibre from the brain does tear.A skylark wounded in the wing,A cherubim does cease to sing.The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fightDoes the rising sun affright.Every wolf's and lion's howlRaises from hell a human soul.- "Auguries of Innocence

My mother groaned, my father wept,into the dangerous world I leapt.

Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps.

A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent.

In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

When nations grow old the Arts grow coldAnd commerce settles on every tree

When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.

Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not be believed.

Expect poison from the standing water.

The cut worm forgives the plow.

Mirth is better than fun and happiness is better than mirth.

A Robin Redbreast in a CagePuts all Heaven in a Rage.A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeonsShudders Hell thro’ all its regions.A Dog starv’d at his Master’s GatePredicts the ruin of the State.A Horse misus’d upon the RoadCalls to Heaven for Human blood.Each outcry of the hunted HareA fiber from the Brain does tear.

It is right it should be so Man was made for joy and woe And when this we rightly know Through the world we safely go.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.

Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night.