Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

William Blake Poet

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United Kingdom
  • Born: Nov 28, 1757
  • Died: Aug 12, 1827

William Blake was an English painter, poet and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Although he lived in London his entire life, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich oeuvre, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God" or "human existence itself".

Although Blake was considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, he is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of the Romantic movement and as "Pre-Romantic".

Active Evil is better than Passive Good. good

Opposition is true friendship. friendship

Travelers repose and dream among my leaves. travel

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. happiness

Exuberance is beauty. beauty

The true method of knowledge is experiment. knowledge

Great things are done when men and mountains meet. great & men

Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion. religion

Eternity is in love with the productions of time. time

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. forgiveness

The man who never in his mind and thoughts travel'd to heaven is no artist. travel

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. time

Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps. sympathy

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. love

Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow. imagination

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. great

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. life

Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too. God

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. wisdom

The weak in courage is strong in cunning. courage

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. truth

A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent. truth

Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death. art, death & science

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

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. friendship

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. forgiveness & religion

Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief? sad

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. thankful & Thanksgiving

What is grand is necessarily obscure to weak men. That which can be made explicit to the idiot is not worth my care. men

I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans I will not reason and compare: my business is to create. business

Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed. art & beauty

The hours of folly are measured by the clock but of wisdom, no clock can measure. wisdom