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William Blake Quotes (1757-1827)
Poet, Painter
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About William Blake
William Blake (November 28 1757 β August 12 1827) was an English poet, Christian mystic, painter, printmaker, and engraver.
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βExuberance is Beauty.β
βEver Weeping Paddington...β
βOpposition is true Friendship.β
βHalf Friendship is the bitterest Enmity...β
βHe who desires but acts not breeds pestilence.β
βThis world of imagination is the world of eternity.β
βThe Old & New Testaments are / the Great Code of Art.β
βWhy art thou silent and invisible,
Father of Jealousy?β
Father of Jealousy?β
βForgiveness of enemies can only come upon their repentance.β
βThe true method of knowledge is experiment.β
βThe tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.β
βAnd throughout all eternity
I forgive you, you forgive me.β
I forgive you, you forgive me.β
βI myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.β
βEternity is in love with the productions of time.β
βIn the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.β
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.β
βTruth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believed.β
βTrue superstition is ignorant honesty & this is beloved of god and man.β
βEvery tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity.β
Becomes a babe in eternity.β
βNothing can be more contemptible than to suppose Public RECORDS to be True.β
βThey have divided themselves by Wrath. they must be united by
Pity<...>β
Pity<...>β
βThe harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding sheet.β
Shall weave old England's winding sheet.β
βA dog starved at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.β
Predicts the ruin of the state.β
βA truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.β
Beats all the lies you can invent.β
βThere can be no Good Will. Will is always Evil; it is persecution to others or selfishness.β
βThey suppose that Woman's Love is Sin; in consequence all the Loves & Graces with them are Sin.β
βImprovement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius.β
βWhen a Man has Married a Wife
He finds out whether
Her Knees & elbows are only
glued together.β
He finds out whether
Her Knees & elbows are only
glued together.β
βThe moon like a flower
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight,
Sits and smiles on the night.β
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight,
Sits and smiles on the night.β
βIf the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.β
βSing louder around
To the bells' cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the ecchoing green.β
To the bells' cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the ecchoing green.β
β"For washed in life's river,
My bright mane forever
Shall shine like the gold
As Iguard o'er the fold."β
My bright mane forever
Shall shine like the gold
As Iguard o'er the fold."β
βAnd I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.β
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.β
βThe look of love alarms
Because 'tis filled with fire;
But the look of soft deceit
Shall win the lover's hire.β
Because 'tis filled with fire;
But the look of soft deceit
Shall win the lover's hire.β
βCruelty has a human heart,
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And Secrecy the human dress.β
And Jealousy a human face;
Terror the human form divine,
And Secrecy the human dress.β
βFiery the Angels rose, and as they rose deep thunder roll'd
Around their shores: indignant burning with the fires of Orc.β
Around their shores: indignant burning with the fires of Orc.β
βSleep, sleep, beauty bright,
Dreaming o'er the joys of night.
Sleep, sleep: in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.β
Dreaming o'er the joys of night.
Sleep, sleep: in thy sleep
Little sorrows sit and weep.β
βWhen I tell any Truth it is not for the sake of Convincing those who do not know it but for the sake of defending those who Doβ
βMy specter around me night and day
Like a wild beast guards my way,
My emanation far within
Weeps incessantly for my sin.β
Like a wild beast guards my way,
My emanation far within
Weeps incessantly for my sin.β
βAbstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair,
But desire gratified
Plants fruits of life and beauty there.β
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair,
But desire gratified
Plants fruits of life and beauty there.β
βWhat is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the idiot is not worth my care.β
βPancrass & Kentish-town repose
Among her golden pillars high:
Among her golden arches which
Shine upon the starry sky.β
Among her golden pillars high:
Among her golden arches which
Shine upon the starry sky.β
βHe 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.β
Does the wingèd life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise.β
βMy mother groan'd! my father wept.
Into the dangerous world I leapt:
Helpless, naked, piping loud:
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.β
Into the dangerous world I leapt:
Helpless, naked, piping loud:
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.β
βLove to faults is always blind,
Always is to joys inclined,
Lawless, winged, and unconfined,
And breaks all chains from every mind.β
Always is to joys inclined,
Lawless, winged, and unconfined,
And breaks all chains from every mind.β
βHe who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt
They'd immediately go out.β
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt
They'd immediately go out.β
βLove 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.β
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a hell in heaven's despite.β
βThat the Jews assumed a right Exclusively to the benefits of God. will be a lasting witness against them. & the same will it be against Christiansβ
βTo Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit β General Knowledges are those Knowledges that Idiots possess.β
βThose who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs the unwilling.β
βWhat 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.β
The lineaments of gratified desire.
What is it women do in men require?
The lineaments of gratified desire.β
βWithout contraries there is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate are necessary to human existence.β
βThis life's dim windows of the soul
Distorts the heavens from pole to pole
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not through, the eye.β
Distorts the heavens from pole to pole
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not through, the eye.β
βMock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau.
Mock on, mock on β 'tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.β
Mock on, mock on β 'tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.β
βWhen the voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And everything else is still.β
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast
And everything else is still.β
βBut most, thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.β
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.β
βThen 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."β
Farted and belched and coughed,
And said, "I love hanging and drawing and quartering
Every bit as well as war and slaughtering."β
βMan was made for joy and woe,
And when this we rightly know
Through the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.β
And when this we rightly know
Through the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.β
βFor a tear is an intellectual thing,
And a sigh is the sword of an Angel King,
And the bitter groan of the martyr's woe
Is an arrow from the Almighty's bow.β
And a sigh is the sword of an Angel King,
And the bitter groan of the martyr's woe
Is an arrow from the Almighty's bow.β
βMy mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black as if bereaved of light.β
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black as if bereaved of light.β
βThe fields from Islington to Marybone,
To Primrose Hill and Saint John's Wood:
Were builded over with pillars of gold,
And there Jerusalems pillars stood.β
To Primrose Hill and Saint John's Wood:
Were builded over with pillars of gold,
And there Jerusalems pillars stood.β
βI am not a God afar off, I am a brother and friend;
Within your bosoms I reside, and you reside in me:
Lo! we are One; forgiving all Evil; Not seeking recompense!β
Within your bosoms I reside, and you reside in me:
Lo! we are One; forgiving all Evil; Not seeking recompense!β
βThe Foundation of Empire is Art & Science Remove them or Degrade them & the Empire is No More β Empire follows Art & Not Vice Versa as Englishmen suppose.β
βThe 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.β
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.β
βIf 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.β
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.β
βMy silks and fine array,
My smiles and languished air,
By love are driv'n away;
And mournful lean Despair
Brings me yew to deck my grave:
Such end true lovers have.β
My smiles and languished air,
By love are driv'n away;
And mournful lean Despair
Brings me yew to deck my grave:
Such end true lovers have.β
βSeeing this False Christ, in fury and passion
I made my voice heard all over the nation.
β¦
I am sure this Jesus will not do
Either for Englishman or Jew.β
I made my voice heard all over the nation.
β¦
I am sure this Jesus will not do
Either for Englishman or Jew.β
βWhen my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.β
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.β
βO Saviour pour upon me thy Spirit of meekness & love:
Annihilate the Selfhood in me, be thou all my life!
Guide thou my hand which trembles exceedingly upon the rock of agesβ
Annihilate the Selfhood in me, be thou all my life!
Guide thou my hand which trembles exceedingly upon the rock of agesβ
βLittle Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly bright.β
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly bright.β
βEvery night, and every morn,
Some to misery are born.
Every morn, and every night,
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to endless night.β
Some to misery are born.
Every morn, and every night,
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to endless night.β
βHe who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars;
General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer:
For art and science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars.β
General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer:
For art and science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars.β
βWhen nations grow old,
the Arts grow cold,
And Commerce settles on every tree:
And the poor and the old
Can live upon gold,
For all are born poor.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Aged sixty-three.β
the Arts grow cold,
And Commerce settles on every tree:
And the poor and the old
Can live upon gold,
For all are born poor.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Aged sixty-three.β
βLike a fiend in a cloud,
With howling woe,
After night I do crowd,
And with night will go;
I turn my back to the east,
From whence comforts have increased;
For light doth seize my brain
With frantic pain.β
With howling woe,
After night I do crowd,
And with night will go;
I turn my back to the east,
From whence comforts have increased;
For light doth seize my brain
With frantic pain.β
βI am not ashamed, afraid, or averse to tell you what Ought to be Told: That I am under the direction of Messengers from Heaven, Daily & Nightly;
but the nature of such things is not, as some suppose, without trouble or care.β
βI see the Four-fold Man.
The Humanity in deadly sleep,
And its fallen Emanation. The Spectre & its cruel Shadow.
I see the Past, Present & Future, existing all at once
Before me; O Divine Spirit sustain me on thy wings!β
The Humanity in deadly sleep,
And its fallen Emanation. The Spectre & its cruel Shadow.
I see the Past, Present & Future, existing all at once
Before me; O Divine Spirit sustain me on thy wings!β
βAnd there the lion's ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold,
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold,
Saying: "Wrath by his meekness,
And by his health, sickness,
Is driven away
From our immortal day."β
Shall flow with tears of gold,
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold,
Saying: "Wrath by his meekness,
And by his health, sickness,
Is driven away
From our immortal day."β
βLittle 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.β
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.β
βRouze up, O Young Men of the New Age! set your foreheads against the ignorant Hirelings! For we have Hirelings in the Camp, the Court & the University, who would, if they could, for ever depress Mental & prolong Corporeal War.β
βPiping down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me:
"Pipe a song about a Lamb."
So I piped with merry cheer;
"Piper, pipe that song again."
So I piped; he wept to hear.β
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me:
"Pipe a song about a Lamb."
So I piped with merry cheer;
"Piper, pipe that song again."
So I piped; he wept to hear.β
βWhat is a Wife & what is a Harlot? What is a Church & What
Is a Theatre? are they Two & not One? can they Exist Separate?
Are not Religion & Politics the Same Thing? Brotherhood is Religion
O Demonstrations of Reason Dividing Families in Cruelty & Pride!β
Is a Theatre? are they Two & not One? can they Exist Separate?
Are not Religion & Politics the Same Thing? Brotherhood is Religion
O Demonstrations of Reason Dividing Families in Cruelty & Pride!β
βIf He had been Antichrist, Creeping Jesus,
He'd have done anything to please us;
Gone sneaking into synagogues,
And not us'd the Elders and Priests like dogs;
But humble as a lamb or ass
Obey'd Himself to Caiaphas.β
He'd have done anything to please us;
Gone sneaking into synagogues,
And not us'd the Elders and Priests like dogs;
But humble as a lamb or ass
Obey'd Himself to Caiaphas.β
βBut Want of Money & the Distress of A Thief can never be alleged as the Cause of his Thieving, for many honest people endure greater hard ships with Fortitude. We must therefore seek the Cause else where than in want of Money for that is the Misers passion, not the Thiefs.β
βCommerce is so far from being beneficial to Arts or to Empire, that it is destructive of both, as all their History shows, for the above Reason of Individual Merit being its Great Hatred. Empires flourish till they become Commercial & then they are scattered abroad to the four windsβ
β...some say that Happiness is not Good for Mortals & they ought to be answerd that Sorrow is not fit for Immortals & is utterly useless to any one a blight never does good to a tree & if a blight kill not a tree but it still bear fruit let none say that the fruit was in consequence of the blight.β
βActs themselves alone are history, and these are neither the exclusive property of Hume, Gibbon nor Voltaire, Echard, Rapin, Plutarch, nor Herodotus. Tell me the Acts, O historian, and leave me to reason upon them as I please; away with your reasoning and your rubbish. All that is not action is not worth reading.β
βTrembling I sit day and night, my friends are astonish'd at me.
Yet they forgive my wanderings, I rest not from my great task!
To open the Eternal Worlds, to open the immortal Eyes
Of Man inwards into the Worlds of Thought: into Eternity
Ever expanding in the Bosom of God. the Human Imaginationβ
Yet they forgive my wanderings, I rest not from my great task!
To open the Eternal Worlds, to open the immortal Eyes
Of Man inwards into the Worlds of Thought: into Eternity
Ever expanding in the Bosom of God. the Human Imaginationβ
βI 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 dameβ
And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree,
And still as a maid
Enjoyed the lady.β
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 dameβ
And without one word said
Had a peach from the tree,
And still as a maid
Enjoyed the lady.β
βNever 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 fearsβ
Ah, she doth depart.
Soon as she was gone from me
A traveler came by
Silently, invisiblyβ
Oh, was no deny.β
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 fearsβ
Ah, she doth depart.
Soon as she was gone from me
A traveler came by
Silently, invisiblyβ
Oh, was no deny.β
βThe vision of Christ that thou dost see
Is my vision's greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.
Thine loves the same world that mine hates;
Thy heaven doors are my hell gates.β
Is my vision's greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.
Thine loves the same world that mine hates;
Thy heaven doors are my hell gates.β
βGod wants not man to humble himself:
That is the trick of the Ancient Elf.
This is the race that Jesus ran:
Humble to God, haughty to man,
Cursing the Rulers before the people
Even to the Temple's highest steeple,
And when He humbled Himself to God
Then descended the cruel rod.
βIf Thou Humblest Thyself, Thou humblest Me.
Thou also dwellβst in Eternity.β
That is the trick of the Ancient Elf.
This is the race that Jesus ran:
Humble to God, haughty to man,
Cursing the Rulers before the people
Even to the Temple's highest steeple,
And when He humbled Himself to God
Then descended the cruel rod.
βIf Thou Humblest Thyself, Thou humblest Me.
Thou also dwellβst in Eternity.β
β
To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is God, our father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is Man, his child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.
βArt is the tree of life.
SCIENCE is the Tree of DEATH
ART is the Tree of LIFEGOD is JESUSβ
SCIENCE is the Tree of DEATH
ART is the Tree of LIFEGOD is JESUSβ
βAnd 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.β
βI assert, for myself, that I do not behold the outward creation, and that to me it is hindrance and not action. "What !" it will be questioned, "when the sun rises, do you not see a round disc of fire somewhat like a guinea !" Oh ! no, no ! I see an innumerable company of the heavenly host crying "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty !" I question not my corporeal eye any more than I would question a window concerning a sight. I look through it, and not with it.β
βTo the Eyes of a Miser a Guinea is more beautiful than the Sun & and a bag worn with the use of Money has more beautiful proportions than a Vine filled with Grapes. 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 by these I shall not regulate my proportions; and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the Eyes of the Man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself. As a man is, So he Sees. As the Eye is formed, such are its Powers..β
βAnd did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold,
Bring me my Arrows of desire,
Bring me my Spear β O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green & pleasant land.β
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold,
Bring me my Arrows of desire,
Bring me my Spear β O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green & pleasant land.β
βThe 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.β
William Blake Quotes by Topic
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William Blake on Angels 6 quotes
View all 6 quotes on Angels →William Blake on Infinity 3 quotes
View all 3 quotes on Infinity →William Blake on Time 3 quotes
βEternity is in love with the productions of time.β
William Blake on Heaven 3 quotes
View all 3 quotes on Heaven →William Blake on Joy 3 quotes
βMan was made for joy and woe, And when this we rightly know Through the world we safely go.β
What William Blake Said About Others
Discover personal opinions William Blake shared regarding contemporaries.
William Blake on Maiden
βPrudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.β
William Blake on Voltaire
William Blake on John Milton
Quotes About William Blake
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about William Blake from others.
Thomas J. J. Altizer on William Blake
βWhat is most needed today is a fundamental theological thinking, one centered upon the Godhead itself, and centered upon that which is most challenging or most offensive in the Godhead, one which has truly been veiled in the modern world, except by our most revolutionary thinkers and visionaries. If we allow Blake and Nietzsche to be paradigmatic of those revolutionaries, nowhere else does such a centering upon God or the Godhead occur, although a full parallel to this occurs in Spinoza and Hegel; but the language of Hegel and Spinoza is not actually offensive, or not in its immediate impact, whereas the language of Nietzsche and Blake is the most purely offensive language which has ever been inscribed. Above all this is true of the theological language of Blake and Nietzsche, but here a theological language is a truly universal language, one occurring in every domain, and occurring as that absolute No which is the origin of every repression and every darkness, and a darkness which is finally the darkness of God, or the darkness of that Godhead which is beyond βGod.β Only Nietzsche and Blake know a wholly fallen Godhead, a Godhead which is an absolutely alien Nihil, but the full reversal of that Nihil is apocalypse itself, an apocalypse which is an absolute joy, and Blake and Nietzsche are those very writers who have most evoked that joy.β
Carl Andre on William Blake
βAnd again to quote Blake: βIt is better to murder an infant in the cradle than to nurse an ungratified desire.ββ
Max Beckmann on William Blake
β..I saw William Blake (in his dream), noble emanation of English genius... ...βHave confidence in your objects,β he said, 'do not let yourself be intimidated by the horror of the world. Everything is ordered and correct and must fulfill its destiny in order to attain perfection. Seek this path'.. ..I awoke and found myself in Holland in the midst of boundless world turmoil. But my belief in the final release and absolution of all things, whether they please or torment, was newly strengthened.β
Harold Bloom on William Blake
βTo me, it seems best to read Blake in company with his truest peers, Shakespeare and Milton, and with his greatest contemporaries, Wordsworth and Shelley. He was a visionary, rather than a mystic, and, like D. H. Lawrence and Sigmund Freud, he hoped to encourage us to exalt our human potential. Perhaps Blake can be best termed an apocalyptic humanist, who urges us never to forget that all deities reside in the human breast.β
Micere Githae Mugo on William Blake
βI also liked the Romantic poets. Wordsworth, Keats, Burns and Blake were some of my favourites. There was something about their rebellious spirit against the evils of industrialization that moved me. Of course now, some of their pessimism, mysticism and limited critical realist visions make me quite uncomfortable.β
About William Blake
William Blake (November 28 1757 β August 12 1827) was an English poet, Christian mystic, painter, printmaker, and engraver.