William Blake

“Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.”

“The Holy WordThat walk'd among the ancient trees,Calling the lapsèd soul,And weeping in the evening dew;That might controlThe starry pole,And fallen, fallen light renew!”

“Every Night and every MornSome to Misery are born.Every Morn and every NightSome are born to Sweet Delight,Some are born to Endless Night.”

“He who binds to himself a joyDoes the winged life destroy;But he who kisses the joy as it fliesLives in eternity's sun rise.”

“Mercy is the golden chain by which society is bound together.”

“The crow wished everything was black, the Owl, that everything was white.”

“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.And I water'd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears; And I sunnéd it with smiles And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright; And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine, And into my garden stole, When the night had veil'd the pole: In the morning glad I see My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.”

“What is now proved was once only imagined.”

“Can I see anothers woe,And not be in sorrow too.Can I see anothers grief,And not seek for kind relief.- On Anothers Sorrow”

“thus men forgot that all deities reside in the human breast.”

“But to go to school in a summer morn,O! It drives all joy away;Under a cruel eye outworn,The little ones spend the dayIn sighing and dismay.”

“I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.”

“Both read the Bible day and night,But thou read'st black where I read white.”

“For I dance And drink and sing,Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing.If thought is lifeAnd strength and breathAnd the wantOf thought is deathThen am IA happy flyIf I liveOr if I die”

“If you have form'd a Circle to go into, / Go into it yourself & see how you would do.”

“Los Sexos nacidos del Orgullo y la Vergüenzaflorecieron en la mañana y en la noche murieron;mas la Piedad cambió la Muerte en Sueño;los Sexos se irguieron para obrar y llorar.”

“He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.”

“May God us keepFrom Single vision and Newton's sleep.”

“And is he honest who resists his genius or conscience only for the sake of present ease or gratification”

“The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself.”

“The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow”

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

“Sooner strangle an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires.”

“I am made to sow the thistle for wheat; the nettle for a nourishing daintyI have planted a false oath in the earth, it has brought forth a poison treeI have chosen the serpent for a councellor & the dog for a schoolmaster to my childrenI have blotted out from light & living the dove & the nightingaleAnd I have caused the earthworm to beg from door to door I have taught the thief a secret path into the house of the justI have taught pale artifice to spread his nets upon the morningMy heavens are brass my earth is iron my moon a clod of clayMy sun a pestilence burning at noon & a vapor of death in nightWhat 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 priceOf all that a man hath his house his wife his childrenWisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buyAnd in the withered field where the farmer plows for bread in vainIt is an easy thing to triumph in the summers sun And in the vintage & to sing on the waggon loaded with cornIt is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflictedTo speak the laws of prudence to the houseless wandererTo listen to the hungry ravens cry in wintry seasonWhen the red blood is filled with wine & with the marrow of lambs It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elementsTo hear a dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the slaughter house moanTo see a god on every wind & a blessing on every blastTo hear the sounds of love in the thunder storm that destroys our enemies houseTo rejoice in the blight that covers his field, & the sickness that cuts off his childrenWhile our olive & vine sing & laugh round our door & our children bring fruits and flowersThen the groans & the dolor are quite forgotten & the slave grinding at the millAnd the captive in chains & the poor in the prison, & the soldier in the fieldWhen the shattered bone hath laid him groaning among the happier deadIt is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity Thus could I sing & thus rejoice, but it is not so with me!”

“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”

“Everything to be imagined is an image of truth.”

“The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.”

“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.”

“I will not cease from mental fightNor shall my sword sleep in my hand.”

“Sweet babe, in thy face Soft desires I can trace, Secret joys and secret smiles, Little pretty infant wiles.”

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

“For every thing that lives is Holy.”

“The Devil answer'd: bray a fool in a morter with wheat, yet shall not his folly be beaten out of him; if Jesus Christ is the greatest man, you ought to love him in the greatest degree; now hear how he has given his sanction to the law of ten commandments: did he not mock at the sabbath, and so mock the sabbaths God? murder those who were murder'd because of him? turn away the law from the woman taken in adultery? steal the labor of others to support him? bear false witness when he omitted making a defense before Pilate? covet when he pray'd for his disciples, and when he bid them shake off the dust of their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments; Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules.”

“But when he has done this, let him not say that he knows better than his master, for he only holds a candle in sunshine.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow, nor the lion, the horse, how he shall take his prey.”

“Expect poison from the standing water.”

“Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

“Man was made for joy and woeThen when this we rightly knowThrough the world we safely go.Joy and woe are woven fineA clothing for the soul to bind.”

“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.”

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

“The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.”

“For all eternity, I forgive you and you forgive me.”

“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 priceOf all that a man hath, his house, his wife, his childrenWisdom is sold in the desolate market where none come to buyAnd in the wither'd field where the farmer ploughs for bread in vain It is an easy thing to triumph in the summer's sunAnd in the vintage and to sing on the waggon loaded with cornIt is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflictedTo speak the laws of prudence to the homeless wandererTo listen to the hungry raven's cry in wintry seasonWhen the red blood is fill'd with wine and with the marrow of lambs It is an easy thing to laugh at wrathful elementsTo hear the dog howl at the wintry door, the ox in the slaughterhouse moan;To see a god on every wind and a blessing on every blastTo hear sounds of love in the thunderstorm that destroys our enemies' house;To rejoice in the blight that covers his field and the sickness that cuts off his children While our olive and vine sing and laugh round our door and our children bring fruits and flowers Then the groan and the dolour are quite forgotten and the slave grinding at the millAnd the captive in chains and the poor in the prison and the soldier in the field When the shatter'd bone hath laid him groaning among the happier deadIt is an easy thing to rejoice in the tents of prosperity:Thus could I sing and thus rejoice: but it is not so with me.”

“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.”

“It is right it should be so:Man was made for joy and woe;And when this we rightly knowThrough the world we safely go.”

“The most sublime act is to set another before you.”

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