John Milton

“Who readsIncessantly, and to his reading brings notA spirit and judgment equal or superior,(And what he brings what needs he elsewhere seek?)Uncertain and unsettled still remains,Deep versed in books, and shallow in himself.”

“The childhood shows the man,As morning shows the day.”

“So spake Israel's true king, and to the FiendMade answer meet, that made void all his wiles.So fares it, when with truth falsehood contends.”

“Thither he bent his way, determined there to rest at noon; and entered soon the shadehigh roofed, and walks beneath, and alleys brown,That opened in the midst a woody scene;Nature's own work it seemed, Nature-taught Art”

“But first whom shall we sendIn search of this new world, whom shall we findSufficient? Who shall tempt, with wand'ring feetThe dark unbottomed infinite abyssAnd through the palpable obscure find outHis uncouth way, or spread his aery flightUpborne with indefatigable wingsOver the vast abrupt, ere he arriveThe happy isle?”

“Thou at the sightPleased, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile,While by thee raised I ruin all my foes,Death last, and with his carcass glut the grave.”

“Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more.”

“In discourse more sweet(For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the Sense)Others apart sat on a hill retired,In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned highOf Providence, Foreknowledge, Will, and Fate-Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute,And found no end, in wandering mazes lost.Of good and evil much they argued then,Of happiness and final misery,Passion and apathy, and glory and shame:Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy!-Yet, with a pleasing sorcery, could charmPain for a while or anguish, and exciteFallacious hope, or arm th' obdurate breastWith stubborn patience as with triple steel.”

“Much of the Soul they talk, but all awry;And in themselves seek virtue; and to themselvesAll glory arrogate, to God give none”

“He who receivesLight from above, from the Fountain of Light,No other doctrine needs, though granted true;But these are false, or little else but dreams,Conjectures, fancies, built on nothing firm.”

“Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools,The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare; more aptTo slacken virtue and abate her edgeThan prompt her to do aught may merit praise.”

“Most men admireVirtue who follow not her lore.”

“The happy placeImparts to thee no happiness, no joy --Rather inflames thy torment, representingLost bliss, to thee no more communicable;So never more in Hell than when in Heaven.”

“John Milton (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674) was an English poet, prose polemicist, and civil servant for the English Commonwealth. Most famed for his epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton is celebrated as well for his eloquent treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica. Long considered the supreme English poet, Milton experienced a dip in popularity after attacks by T.S. Eliot and F.R. Leavis in the mid 20th century; but with multiple societies and scholarly journals devoted to his study, Milton’s reputation remains as strong as ever in the 21st century. Very soon after his death – and continuing to the present day – Milton became the subject of partisan biographies, confirming T.S. Eliot’s belief that “of no other poet is it so difficult to consider the poetry simply as poetry, without our theological and political dispositions…making unlawful entry.” Milton’s radical, republican politics and heretical religious views, coupled with the perceived artificiality of his complicated Latinate verse, alienated Eliot and other readers; yet by dint of the overriding influence of his poetry and personality on subsequent generations—particularly the Romantic movement—the man whom Samuel Johnson disparaged as “an acrimonious and surly republican” must be counted one of the most significant writers and thinkers of all time. Source: Wikipedia”

“Heaven's last best gift, my ever new delight.”

“God does not need man nor his won works.”

“Oh goodness infinite, goodness immense!That all this good of evil shall produce,And evil turn to good; more wonderfulThan that which by creation first brought forthLight out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand,Whether I should repent me now of sinBy me done, and occasioned; or rejoiceMuch more, that much more good thereof shall spring;To God more glory, more good-will to menFrom God, and over wrath grace shall abound.”

“For what can war, but endless war, still breed?”

“Those who have put out the people's eyes, reproach them of their blindness.”

“A dungeon horrible, on all sides round, As one great furnace flamed; yet from those flames No light; but rather darkness visible Served only to discover sights of woe”

“High on a throne of royal state, which far”

“What is dark within me, illumine.”

“¿Qué importa el sitio donde yo resida, si soy siempre el mismo y el que debo ser [...] vale más reinar en el infierno que servir en el cielo.”

“Henceforth an individual solace dear; Part of my Soul I seek thee, and thee claim My other half: with that thy gentle hand Seisd mine, I yielded, and from that time see How beauty is excelld by manly grace.”

“Infernal world, and thou profoundest HellReceive thy new Possessor: One who bringsA mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time.The mind is its own place, and in it selfCan make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.”

“The mind is a universe and can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

“Ah, much deluded! lay asideThy threats, and anger misapplied!Art not afraid with sounds like theseTo offend, where thou canst not appease?Death is not (wherefore dream'st thou thus?)The son of night and Erebus:Not was of fell Erynnis bornOn gulfs where Chaos rules forlorn.But sent from God, his presence leaves,To gather home his ripen'd sheaves,To call encumber'd souls awayFrom fleshly bonds to boundless day,(As when the winged hours excited,And summon forth the morning light)And each to convoy to her placeBefore the Eternal Father's face.”

“th' unconquerable will,/ And study of revenge, immortal hate,/ And courage never to submit or yield/ And what is else not to be overcome?”

“I thence invoke my thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar above the Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.”

“But to guide nations in the way of TruthBy saving Doctrine, and from error leadTo know, and knowing worship God aright,Is yet more knightly, this attracts the Soul,Governs the inner man, the nobler part,That other o'er the body only reigns,And oft by force, which to a generous mindso reigning can be no sincere delight.”

“Where glowing embers through the roomTeach light to counterfeit a gloom...”

“With thee conversing I forget all time,All seasons and their change, all please alike.Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sunWhen first on this delightful land he spreadsHis orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile earthAfter soft showers; and sweet the coming onOf grateful evening mild, then silent nightWith this her solemn bird and this fair moon,And these the gems of heav'n, her starry train:But neither breath of morn when she ascendsWith charm of earliest birds, nor rising sunOn this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower,Glistring with dew, nor fragrance after showers,Nor grateful evening mild, nor silent nightWith this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon,Or glittering starlight without thee is sweet.”

“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clayTo mould me man? Did I solicit theeFrom darkness to promote me?”

“Let her [Truth] and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter? Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing.”

“They are the troublers, they are the dividers of unity, who neglect and don't permit others to unite those dissevered pieces which are yet wanting to the body of Truth.”

“The light which we have gained, was given us, not to be ever staring on, but by it to discover onward things more remote from our knowledge. It is not the unfrocking of a priest, the unmitering of a bishop, and the removing hum from the Presbyterian shoulders that will make us a happy nation; no, if other things as great in the Church, and in the rule of life both economical and political, be not looked into and reformed, we have looked so long upon the blaze that Zwinglius and Calvin have beaconed up to us, that we are stark blind.”

“But say I could repent and could obtaineBy Act of Grace my former state: how soonwould higth recal high thoughts; how soon unsaywhat feign'd submission swore: ease would recantvows made in pain, as violent and void. For never can true reconcilement growwhere wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep:which would but lead me to a worse relapseand heavier fall: so should I purchase cleaveshort intermission bought with double smart:This knows my punisher; therefore as farfrom granting here, as I from begging peace:All hope excluded thus, behold in steadof us out-cast, exil'd, his new delight, Mankind created, and for his this World. So farewell Hope, and with Hope farwel Fear,Farewel Remorse: all Good to me is lost.”

“Our torments also may in length of timeBecome our Elements.”

“...a darkIllimitable ocean, without bound,Without dimension; where length, breadth, and height,And time, and place are lost;”

“Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss.”

“To morrow to fresh Woods, and Pastures new.”

“قتل الكتاب الجيد يماثل قتل إنسان”

“So shall the world go on,To good malignant, to bad men benign,Under her own weight groaning.”

“Ah, why should all mankindFor one man's fault, be condemned,If guiltless?”

“Thus it shall befall Him, who to worth in women over-trusting, Lets her will rule: restraint she will not brook; And left to herself, if evil thence ensue She first his weak indulgence will accuse.”

“Consult.../what reinforcement we may gain from hope,/If not, what resolution from despair.”

“A mind not to be changed by place or time.The mind is its own place, and in itselfCan make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.”

“Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun,When first on this delightful land he spreadsHis orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit and flower,Glistening with dew; fragrant the fertile earthAfter soft showers, and sweet the coming onof grateful Evening mild; the silent Night,With this her solumn bird and hisfair Moon,And these the gems of Heaven, their starry train;But neither breath of morn nor rising sunOn this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flowerGlistening with dew, nor fragrance after shower,Nor grateful Evening mild, nor silent Night,With this her solumn bird, nor walk by Moon,Or glittering starlight, without thee is sweet”

“Now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting painTorments him; round he throws his baleful eyesThat witnessed huge affliction and dismayMixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate:At once as far as angels ken he viewsThe dismal situation waste and wild,A dungeon horrible, on all sides roundAs one great furnace flamed, yet from those flamesNo light, but rather darkness visibleServed only to discover sights of woe,Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peaceAnd rest can never dwell, hope never comesThat comes to all; but torture without endStill urges, and a fiery deluge, fedWith ever-burning sulfur unconsumed.”

“O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,Irrecoverably dark, total eclipseWithout all hope of day!”