Quotes by William Blake

“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.”

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”

“Mans Desires are limited by his Perceptions; none can desire what he has not perceived.”

“Every wolf s and lions howl / Raises from Hell a human soul.”

“It is an easy thing to talk of patience to the afflicted.”

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

“Truth lies within a little and certain compass, but error is immense.”

“Active Evil is better than Passive Good.”

“Innocence dwells with wisdom, but never with ignorance”

“The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not vice versa as Englishmen suppose.”

“I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love.”

“I can look at the knot in a piece of wood until it frightens me.”

“This lifes dim windows of the soulDistorts the heavens from pole to poleAnd leads you to believe a lieWhen you see with, not through, the eye.”

“In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.”

“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom”

“You throw the sand against the windAnd the wind blows it back again.”

“Nature in darkness groans and men are bound to sullen contemplation in the night: restless they turn on beds of sorrow; in their inmost brain feeling the crushing wheels, they rise, they write the bitter words of stern philosophy and knead the bread of knowledge with tears and groans.”

“Never seek to tell thy love, / Love that never told can be; / For the gentle wind does move / Silently, invisibly.”

“You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue, and you cannot have Moral Virtue without the slavery of that half of the human race who hate what you call Moral Virtue.”

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