Quotes

[Pari]

"Truly, My Satan, thou art but a Dunce,
And dost not know the Garment from the Man.
Every Harlot was a Virgin once,
Nor can'st thou ever change Kate into Nan."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise (Epilogue, l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"I see every thing I paint in this world, but everybody does not see alike. To the eyes of a miser a guinea is more beautiful than the sun, and a bag worn with the use of money http://www.poemhunter.com/william-blake/quotations/#has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes."[/COLOR]
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. letter, Aug. 23, 1799. The Letters of William Blake (1956).

 

[Pari]

"For where'er the sun does shine,
And where'er the rain does fall,
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. Holy Thursday (l. 13-16). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"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 (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. letter, Aug. 23, 1799. The Letters of William Blake (1956).

 

[Pari]

"Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduced to misery,
Fed with cold and usurous hand?"
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. Holy Thursday (l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;"
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. The Little Black Boy (l. 1-2). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor;
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. Holy Thursday (l. 11-12). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of Godlike lambs we joy,

I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. The Little Black Boy (l. 23-28). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. Holy Thursday (l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

""And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love,"
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. The Little Black Boy (l. 13-14). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"How sweet I roam'd from field to field
And tasted all the summer's pride,
Till I the Prince of Love beheld
Who in the sunny beams did glide!"
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. How sweet I roam'd from field to field (l. 1-4). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call'd Body is a portion of Soul discern'd by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 4, "The Voice of the Devil," (1790-1793).

 

[Pari]

"With sweet May dews my wings were wet,
And Phoebus fir'd my vocal rage;
He caught me in his silken net,
And shut me in his golden cage.

He loves to sit and hear me sing,
Then, laughing, sports and plays with me;
Then stretches out my golden wing,
And mocks my loss of liberty."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. How sweet I roam'd from field to field (l. 9-16). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguine Books

 

[Pari]

"The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of ainstruction."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 9, "Proverbs of Hell," (c. 1793), repr. In Complete Writings, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (1957

 

[Pari]

"I askèd a thief to steal me a peach
He turned up his eyes
I ask'd a lithe lady to lie her down
Holy & meek she cries—

As soon as I went
An angel came.
He wink'd at the thief
And smild at the dame—

And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree
And still as a maid
Enjoy'd the lady."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. I Askèd a Thief (l. 1-12). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 7, "Proverbs of Hell," (c. 1793), repr. In Complete Writings, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (1957).

 

[Pari]

"The record of one's life must needs prove more interesting to him who writes it than to him who reads what has been written.
"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 (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver, and Martha Ostenso. repr. In Complete Writings, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (1957). "Infant Joy," st. 1, Songs of Innocence (1789).[/COLOR]

 

[Pari]

"The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plates 17-20, "A Memorable Fancy," (c. 1793), repr. In Complete Writings, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (1957).

 

[Pari]

"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 (1757-1827), British poet, painter, mystic. From SONGS OF INNOCENCE. Infant Joy (l. 1-6). . . The Complete Poems [William Blake]. Alicia Ostriker, ed. (1977) Penguin Books.

 

[Pari]

"If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise."
William Blake (1757-1827), British poet, painter, engraver. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 7, "Proverbs of Hell," (c. 1793), repr. In Complete Writings, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (1957).