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

“What in me is darkIllumine, what is low raise and support,That to the height of this great argumentI may assert eternal Providence,And justify the ways of God to men. 1 Paradise Lost. Book i. Line 22.”

“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. ”

“What is strength without a double share of wisdom?”

“And what is faith, love, virtue unassay'd alone, without exterior help sustained?”

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

“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.”