William Blake

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

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

"Opposition is true Friendship."

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

"He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence."

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

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

"The busy bee has no time for sorrow."

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

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

"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings."

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

"In every cry of every Man, In every Infant's cry of fear, In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forg'd manacles I hear."

"Children of the future Age Reading this indignant page, Know that in a former time Love! sweet Love! was thought a crime."

"The cistern contains: the fountain overflows."

"One thought fills immensity."

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

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

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

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

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

"The weak in courage is strong in cunning."

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

"Exuberance is Beauty."

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

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

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

"Enough! or too much."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

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

"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."

"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.""

"He who binds to himself a joy Does the wingèd life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sunrise."

"The look of love alarms Because 'tis filled with fire; But the look of soft deceit Shall win the lover's hire."

"What is it men in women do require? The lineaments of gratified desire. What is it women do in men require? The lineaments of gratified desire."

"You'll quite remove the ancient curse."

"Hear the voice of the Bard, Who present, past, and future, sees; Whose ears have heard The Holy Word That walked among the ancient trees."

"Turn away no more; Why wilt thou turn away? The starry floor, The watery shore Is given thee till the break of day."

"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 seeketh only Self to please, To bind another to its delight, Joys in another's loss of ease, And builds a hell in heaven's despite."

"O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm:Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy."

"Little Fly, Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brushed away. Am not I A fly like thee? Or art not thou A man like me? For I dance, And drink, and sing, Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing."

"The modest Rose puts forth a thorn, The humble sheep a threat'ning horn: While the Lily white shall in love delight, Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright."

"When the stars threw down their spears, And water'd heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"