William Blake Quotes


"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."
- William Blake
(Related: Imagination, Nature, Eyes, Joy, Man, Ridicule, Tears)

"The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction."
- William Blake
(Related: Horses, Wrath)

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."
- William Blake
(Related: Harvest)

"The soul of sweet delight, can never be defiled."
- William Blake
(Related: Soul, Delight)

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."
- William Blake
(Related: Wisdom, Excess, Road)

"The man who never in his mind and thoughts travel'd to heaven is no artist."
- William Blake
(Related: Travel, Thoughts, Artist, Heaven, Man, Mind)

"The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
- William Blake
(Related: Man, Mind, Opinions, Water)

"The hours of folly are measured by the clock; but of wisdom, no clock can measure."
- William Blake
(Related: Wisdom, Folly, Measure)

"The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness."
- William Blake
(Related: Forgiveness, Christianity, Glory)

"Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish."
- William Blake
(Related: Music, Poetry, Nations, Painting, Race)

"The fool who persists in his folly will become wise."
- William Blake
(Related: Folly, Fool, Will)

"The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really does."
- William Blake
(Related: Artist, Difference)

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."
- William Blake
(Related: Friendship, Man)

"That the Jews assumed a right exclusively to the benefits of God will be a lasting witness against them and the same will it be against Christians."
- William Blake
(Related: God, Benefits, Right, Will)

"Prudence is a rich, ugly, old maid courted by incapacity."
- William Blake
(Related: Old, Prudence, Ugly)

"Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion."
- William Blake
(Related: Religion, Law)

"The true method of knowledge is experiment."
- William Blake
(Related: Knowledge)

"What is grand is necessarily obscure to weak men. That which can be made explicit to the idiot is not worth my care."
- William Blake
(Related: Men, Care, Worth)

"The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not vice versa as Englishmen suppose."
- William Blake
(Related: Art, Science, Vice)

"What is a wife and what is a harlot? What is a church and what is a theatre? are they two and not one? Can they exist separate? Are not religion and politics the same thing? Brotherhood is religion. O demonstrations of reason dividing families in cruelty and pride!"
- William Blake
(Related: Politics, Religion, Wife, Church, Brotherhood, Cruelty, Reason, Theatre)

"You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough."
- William Blake
"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."
- William Blake
(Related: Virtue, Hate, Liberty, Race, Slavery, World)

"Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence."
- William Blake
(Related: Love, Energy, Existence, Hate, Reason)

"Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too."
- William Blake
(Related: God, Love, Mercy, Pity)

"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."
- William Blake
(Related: Truth)

"When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend."
- William Blake
(Related: Friend, Enemy, Trying)

"What is the price of experience? Do men buy it for a song? Or wisdom for a dance in the street? No, it is bought with the price of all the man hath, his house, his wife, his children."
- William Blake
(Related: Men, Wisdom, Wife, Dance, Experience, Children, Man, Song)

"Want of money and the distress of a thief can never be alleged as the cause of his thieving, for many honest people endure greater hardships with fortitude. We must therefore seek the cause elsewhere than in want of money, for that is the miser's passion, not the thief s."
- William Blake
(Related: Money, People, Cause, Miser, Passion, Thieving, Want)

"Opposition is true friendship."
- William Blake
(Related: Friendship, Opposition)

"The weak in courage is strong in cunning."
- William Blake
(Related: Courage, Cunning)

"Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief?"
- William Blake
(Related: Grief, Sorrow)

"Travelers repose and dream among my leaves."
- William Blake
(Related: Dream)

"To the eyes of a miser a guinea is more beautiful than the sun, and a bag worn with the use of money has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes."
- William Blake
(Related: Money, Eyes, Miser, Sun)

"To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake
(Related: Eternity, Heaven, Infinity, World)

"To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake
(Related: Eternity, Heaven, Infinity, World)

"To generalize is to be an idiot."
- William Blake
"Those who restrain their desires, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained."
- William Blake
"Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night."
- William Blake
(Related: Act, Evening, Night, Sleep)

"What is now proved was once only imagined."
- William Blake
(Related: Now)

"Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white."
- William Blake
(Related: Bible, Day, Night)

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet."
- William Blake
(Related: Men, Mountains)

"Fun I love, but too much fun is of all things the most loathsome. Mirth is better than fun, and happiness is better than mirth."
- William Blake
(Related: Happiness, Love, Fun, Mirth)

"For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life."
- William Blake
(Related: Life)

"Exuberance is beauty."
- William Blake
(Related: Beauty)

"Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps."
- William Blake
(Related: Joy, Sorrow)

"Every harlot was a virgin once."
- William Blake
"Eternity is in love with the productions of time."
- William Blake
(Related: Love, Time, Eternity)

"He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise."
- William Blake
(Related: Life, Eternity, Flies, Joy, Kisses, Sun)

"Christ's crucifix shall be made an excuse for executing criminals."
- William Blake
(Related: Christ)

"Better murder an infant in its cradle than nurse an unacted desire."
- William Blake
(Related: Desire, Murder)

"One thought fills immensity."
- William Blake
(Related: Thought)

"As a man is, so he sees. As the eye is formed, such are its powers."
- William Blake
(Related: Eye, Man)

"Do what you will, this world's a fiction and is made up of contradiction."
- William Blake
(Related: Contradiction, Fiction, Will, World)

"Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed."
- William Blake
(Related: Art, Beauty)

"Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you."
- William Blake
(Related: Man, Mind, Will)

"Active Evil is better than Passive Good."
- William Blake
(Related: Evil)

"A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent."
- William Blake
(Related: Truth, Lies)

"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees."
- William Blake
(Related: Fool, Man)

"Energy is an eternal delight, and he who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence."
- William Blake
(Related: Delight, Energy)

"If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out."
- William Blake
(Related: Doubt, Moon, Sun)

"Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death."
- William Blake
(Related: Art, Death, Science, Life)

"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings."
- William Blake
"Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that called Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age."
- William Blake
(Related: Age, Soul, Body, Man, Senses)

"Love seeketh not itself to please, nor for itself hath any care, but for another gives its ease, and builds a Heaven in Hell's despair."
- William Blake
(Related: Love, Care, Despair, Heaven, Hell)

"Lives in eternity's sun rise."
- William Blake
(Related: Eternity, Sun)

"It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God only."
- William Blake
(Related: Men, God, Angels, Holiness)

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."
- William Blake
(Related: Friend, Enemy)

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy."
- William Blake
(Related: Time, Harvest, Winter)

"He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence."
- William Blake
"Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow."
- William Blake
(Related: Imagination, Shadow, Universe, World)

"If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise."
- William Blake
(Related: Folly, Fool)

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."
- William Blake
(Related: Perception, Infinite, Man)

"If a thing loves, it is infinite."
- William Blake
(Related: Infinite)

"I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow."
- William Blake
(Related: End, Wrath)

"I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create."
- William Blake
(Related: Business, Reason, Will)

"I have no name: I am but two days old. What shall I call thee? I happy am, Joy is my name. Sweet joy befall thee!"
- William Blake
(Related: Joy, Name, Old)

"I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love."
- William Blake
(Related: Love)

"He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star."
- William Blake
(Related: Light)

"He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars: general Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer, for Art and Science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars."
- William Blake
(Related: Art, Science)