"Then old Nobodaddy aloft Farted and belched and coughed, And said, "I love hanging and drawing and quartering Every bit as well as war and slaughtering.""

"If you trap the moment before it's ripe, The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe; But if once you let the ripe moment go You can never wipe off the tears of woe."

"Abstinence sows sand all over The ruddy limbs and flaming hair, But desire gratified Plants fruits of life and beauty there."

"The sword sung on the barren heath, The sickle in the fruitful field; The sword he sung a song of death, But could not make the sickle yield."

"Love to faults is always blind, Always is to joys inclined, Lawless, winged, and unconfined, And breaks all chains from every mind."

"Why art thou silent and invisible, Father of Jealousy?"

"Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Dreaming o'er the joys of night. Sleep, sleep: in thy sleep Little sorrows sit and weep."

"I asked a thief to steal me a peach: He turned up his eyes. I asked a lithe lady to lie her down: Holy and meek, she cries. As soon as I went An angel came. He winked at the thief And smiled at the dame— And without one word said Had a peach from the tree, And still as a maid Enjoyed the lady."

"Never seek to tell thy love Love that never told can be; For the gentle wind does move Silently, invisibly. I told my love, I told my love, I told her all my heart; Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears— Ah, she doth depart. Soon as she was gone from me A traveler came by Silently, invisibly— Oh, was no deny."

"The ancient poets animated all objects with Gods or Geniuses, calling them by the names and adorning them with the properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged & numerous senses could perceive. And particularly they studied the genius of each city & country, placing it under its mental deity; Till a system was formed, which some took advantage of, & enslav'd the vulgar by attempting to realize or abstract the mental deities from their objects: thus began priesthood; Choosing forms of worship from poetic tales. And at length they pronounc'd that the Gods had order'd such things. Thus men forgot that all deities reside in the human breast."

"Enough! or too much."

"Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believed."

"Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires."

"Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius."

"Exuberance is Beauty."

"When thou seest an Eagle, thou seest a portion of Genius; lift up thy head!"

"The weak in courage is strong in cunning."

"You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough."

"The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction."

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

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

"Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you."

"One thought fills immensity."

"The cistern contains: the fountain overflows."

"The pride of the peacock is the glory of God. The lust of the goat is the bounty of God. The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God. The nakedness of woman is the work of God."

"Prisons are built with stones of law; brothels with bricks of religion."

"If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise."

"All wholesome food is caught without a net or a trap."

"The hours of folly are measur'd by the clock, but of wisdom no clock can measure."

"The busy bee has no time for sorrow."

"Eternity is in love with the productions of time."

"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. He whose face gives no light shall never become a star."

"He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence."

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

"Opposition is true Friendship."

"The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite."

"Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs the unwilling."

"The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true poet and of the Devils' party without knowing it."

"Without contraries there is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate are necessary to human existence."

"Rintrah roars and shakes his fires in the burden'd air; Hungry clouds swag on the deep."

"The Foundation of Empire is Art & Science Remove them or Degrade them & the Empire is No More — Empire follows Art & Not Vice Versa as Englishmen suppose."

"To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit — General Knowledges are those Knowledges that Idiots possess."

"Degrade first the arts if you'd mankind degrade, Hire idiots to paint with cold light and hot shade."

"I have labour'd hard indeed, & have been borne on angel's wings. Till we meet I beg of God our Saviour to be with you & me, & yours & mine. Pray give my & my wife's love to Mrs Butts & Family, & believe me to remain."

"And now let me finish with assuring you that, Tho I have been very unhappy, I am so no longer. I am again. Emerged into the light of day; I still & shall to Eternity Embrace Christianity and Adore him who is the Express image of God; but I have travel'd thro' Perils & Darkness not unlike a Champion. I have Conquer'd, and shall still Go on Conquering. Nothing can withstand the fury of my Course among the Stars of God & in the Abysses of the Accuser. My Enthusiasm is still what it was, only Enlarged and conform'd."