110+ William Blake Quotes On Nature, Death And Imagination

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. He was a major figure of the Romantic Age and is best known for his prophetic poetry and his paintings of religious and mythological themes. He is also known for his famous works such as The Tyger, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and Songs of Innocence and Experience. Following is our collection on famous quotes by William Blake on nature, death, imagination.

Top 10 William Blake Quotes

1. If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
2. Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.
3. A good local pub has much in common with a church, except that a pub is warmer, and there's more conversation.
4. He who kisses joy as it flies by will live in eternity's sunrise.
5. I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.
6. The person who does not believe in miracles surely makes it certain that he or she will never take part in one.
7. Make your own rules or be a slave to another man's.
8. And we are put on earth a little space, That we may learn to bear the beams of love.
9. The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
10. Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.

William Blake Image Quotes

Make your own rules or be a slave to another man's. — William Blake

The pride of the peacock is the glory of God. — William Blake

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. — William Blake

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. — William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower. — William Blake

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. — William Blake

Every harlot was a virgin once. — William Blake

What is now proved was once only imagined. — William Blake

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

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. — William Blake

A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. — William Blake

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. — William Blake

He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence. — William Blake

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. — William Blake

Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night. — William Blake

The most sublime act is to set another before you. — William Blake

I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love. — William Blake

The nakedness of woman is the work of God. — William Blake

Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white. — William Blake

The crow wished everything was black, the Owl, that everything was white. — William Blake

William Blake Short Quotes

• The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.
• It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
• Every harlot was a virgin once.
• A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.
• You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.
• He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence.
• No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
• As a man is, so he sees.
• Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night.
• The most sublime act is to set another before you.

William Blake Quotes About Nature

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. — William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower. — William Blake

To the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself. — William Blake

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand. — William Blake

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. — William Blake

If you, who are organised by Divine Providence for spiritual communion, refuse, and bury your talent in the earth, even though you should want natural bread, sorrow and desperation pursue you through life, and after death shame and confusion of face to eternity. — William Blake

Nature has no outline. Imagination has. — William Blake

Every man who is not an artist is a traitor to his own nature. — William Blake

When Sir Joshua Reynolds died All Nature was degraded — William Blake

When Sir Joshua Reynolds died All Nature was degraded; The King dropped a tear in the Queen's ear, And all his pictures faded. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Death

Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death. — William Blake

What seems to be, is, to those to whom it seems to be, and is productive of the most dreadful consequences to those to whom it seems to be, even of torments, despair, eternal death. — William Blake

Drive your cart and plow over the bones of the dead. — William Blake

Prepare your hearts for Death's cold hand! prepare Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth; Prepare your arms for glorious victory; Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God! Prepare, prepare! — William Blake

Death is terrible, tho' borne on angels' wings! — William Blake

I am going to that country which I have all my life wished to see. — William Blake

The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the vegetative body. — William Blake

England! awake! awake! awake! Jerusalem thy sister calls! Why wilt thou sleep the sleep of death And close her from thy ancient walls? — William Blake

For I dance And drink and sing, Till some blind hand Shall brush my wing. If thought is life And strength and breath And the want Of thought is death Then am I A happy fly If I live Or if I die — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Imagination

What is now proved was once only imagined. — William Blake

The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself. — William Blake

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

Does a firm persuasion that a thing is so, make it so?" He replied, "All poets believe it does. And in ages of imagination, this firm persuasion removes mountains; but many are not capable of firm persuasion of anything. — William Blake

What is now proved was only once imagined. — William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand,And a heaven in a wild flower,Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,And eternity in an hour. — William Blake

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 Imagination — William Blake

Nothing is real beyond imaginative patterns men make of reality. — William Blake

If you cannot imagine with the mind's eye much more than you can see with the mortal eye, you have a very poor imagination indeed. — William Blake

Everything to be imagined is an image of truth. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Friendship

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. — William Blake

Thy friendship oft has made my heart to ache; do be my enemy for friendship's sake. — William Blake

Opposition is true friendship. — William Blake

O God, protect me from my friends, that they have not power over me. Thou hast giv'n me power to protect myself from thy bitterest enemies. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Art

Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed. — William Blake

He 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. — William Blake

The Sick Rose 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. — William Blake

When nations grow old the Arts grow cold And commerce settles on every tree — William Blake

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. — William Blake

It is the greatest of crimes to depress true art and science. — William Blake

Commerce 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, and then they are scattered abroad to the four winds. — William Blake

The inquiry in England is not whether a man has talents and genius, but whether he is passive and polite and a virtuous ass and obedient to noblemen's opinions in art and science. If he is, he is a good man. If not, he must be starved. — William Blake

The human mind cannot go beyond the gift of God, the Holy Ghost. To suppose that art can go beyond the finest specimens of art that are now in the world is not knowing what art is; it is being blind to the gifts of the spirit. — William Blake

None but blockheads copy each other. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Life

A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. — William Blake

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. — William Blake

For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life. — William Blake

The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow — William Blake

Better to shun the bait than struggle in the snare. — William Blake

Energy is the only life, and is from the body; and reason is the bound or outward circumference of energy. Energy is eternal delight. — William Blake

Life delights in life. — William Blake

Lo! now the direful monster, whose skin clings To his strong bones, strides o'er the groaning rocks: He withers all in silence, and his hand Unclothes the earth, and freezes up frail life. — William Blake

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but foresight is better, especially when it comes to saving life, or some pain! — William Blake

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

William Blake Quotes About Love

Does the Eagle know what is in the pit Or wilt thou go ask the Mole? Can Wisdom be put in a silver rod, Or Love in a golden bowl? — William Blake

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. — William Blake

I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love. — William Blake

Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind. — William Blake

If a thing loves, it is infinite. — William Blake

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. — William Blake

The worship of God is, Honouring his gifts in other men each according to his genius, and loving the greatest men best; those who envy or calumniate great men hate God, for there is no other God. — William Blake

Eternity is in love with the productions of time. — William Blake

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. — William Blake

Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Religion

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

What is a wife and what is a harlot? What is a church and what is a theatre? are they two and not one? Can they exist separate? Are not religion and politics the same thing? Brotherhood is religion. O demonstrations of reason dividing families in cruelty and pride! — William Blake

As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys. — William Blake

You smile with pomp and rigor, you talk of benevolence and virtue; I act with benevolence and virtue and get murdered time after time. — William Blake

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 Devil's party without knowing it. — William Blake

That the Jews assumed a right exclusively to the benefits of God will be a lasting witness against them and the same will it be against Christians. — William Blake

The ancient Poets animated all sensible 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. — William Blake

He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God. — William Blake

All the destruction in Christian Europe has arisen from deism, which is natural religion. — William Blake

And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds and binding with briars my joys and desires. (from 'The Garden of Love') — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Poetry

Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish. — William Blake

Poetry fettered fetters the human race. — William Blake

Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believed. — William Blake

Poetry, Painting & Music, the three Powers in man of conversing with Paradise, which the flood did not sweep away. — William Blake

To cast aside from Poetry, all that is not Inspiration — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Imaginative

He who does not imagine in stronger and better lineaments, and in stronger and better light than his perishing and mortal eye can see, does not imagine at all. — William Blake

Work up imagination to the state of vision. — William Blake

For the Eye altering alters all; The Senses roll themselves in fear And the flat Earth becomes a Ball. — William Blake

In your own bosom you bear your heaven and earth, And all you behold, though it appears without, It is within, in your imagination, Of which this world of mortality is but a shadow. — William Blake

The world of imagination is the world of eternity. — William Blake

Art degraded, Imagination denied. — William Blake

One Power alone makes a Poet: Imagination. The Divine Vision. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About World

My mother groaned, my father wept, into the dangerous world I leapt. — William Blake

To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour. — William Blake

Since all the riches of this world May be gifts from the Devil and earthly kings, I should suspect that I worshipp'd the Devil If I thank'd my God for worldly things. — William Blake

My mother groaned, my father wept, into the dangerous world I leapt; helpless, naked, piping loud, like a fiend hid in a cloud. — William Blake

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. — William Blake

I heard an Angel singing; When the day was springing, Mercy, Pity, Peace; Is the world's release. — William Blake

Let every Christian, as much as in him lies, engage himself openly and publicly, before all the World, in some mental pursuit for the Building up of Jerusalem. — William Blake

How do you know but ev’ry Bird that cuts the airy way, Is an immense world of delight, clos’d by your senses five? — William Blake

Thinking as I do that the Creator of this world is a very cruel being, and being a worshipper of Christ, I cannot help saying: the Son, O how unlike the Father! First God Almighty comes with a thump on the head. Then Jesus Christ comes with a balm to heal it. — William Blake

Mercy, Pity, Peace Is the world's release. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Eternity

The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity, too great for the eye of man. — William Blake

For all eternity, I forgive you and you forgive me. — William Blake

Energy is eternal delight. — William Blake

Lives in eternity's sun rise. — William Blake

Energy is an eternal delight, and he who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence. — William Blake

Time is the mercy of Eternity; without Time's swiftness Which is the swiftest of all things, all were eternal torment. — William Blake

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 sunrise. — William Blake

Every tear from every eyeBecomes a babe in eternity. — William Blake

Error is created; truth is eternal. — William Blake

The ruins of time build mansions in eternity. — William Blake

William Blake Quotes About Heaven

Heaven is in a grain of sand. — William Blake

I give you the end of a golden string, Only wind it into a ball, It will lead you in at Heaven's gate Built in Jerusalem's wall. — William Blake

The pure soul shall mount on native wings, . . . and cut a path into the heaven of glory. — William Blake

When the stars threw down their spears, and watered heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? — William Blake

A dog starv'd at the master's gate Predicts the ruin of the State. A horse misus'd upon the road Calls to heaven for human blood. Each outcry of the hunted hare A fibre from the brain does tear, A skylark wounded on the wing, A cherubim does cease to sing. — William Blake

When the sun rises, do you not see a round disc of fire somewhat like a guinea? O no, no, I see an innumerable company of the heavenly host crying Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. — William Blake

Those who enter the gates of heaven are not beings who have no passions or who have curbed the passions, but those who have cultivated an understanding of them. — William Blake

Gratitude is heaven itself; there could be no heaven without gratitude. — William Blake

God and His Priest and King,...make up a heaven of our misery. — William Blake

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

William Blake Quotes About Wisdom

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. — William Blake

More! More! is the cry of a mistaken soul. — William Blake

When the doors of perception are cleansed, men will see things as they truly are, infinite. — William Blake

The fool who persists in his folly will become wise. — William Blake

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

The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction. — William Blake

Wisdom is sold in a desolate marketplace where none can come to buy. — William Blake

The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom. — William Blake

The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God. — William Blake

Innocence dwells with Wisdom, but never with ignorance. — William Blake

William Blake Famous Quotes And Sayings

Make your own rules or be a slave to another man's. — William Blake

The pride of the peacock is the glory of God. — William Blake

Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. — William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower. — William Blake

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. — William Blake

Every harlot was a virgin once. — William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? — William Blake

What is now proved was once only imagined. — William Blake

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

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. — William Blake

A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. — William Blake

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. — William Blake

He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence. — William Blake

I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. — William Blake

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. — William Blake

Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night. — William Blake

The most sublime act is to set another before you. — William Blake

I am in you and you in me, mutual in divine love. — William Blake

And 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? — William Blake

The Bat that flits at close of Eve Has left the Brain that won't believe. The Owl that calls upon the Night Speaks the Unbeliever's fright. — William Blake

The nakedness of woman is the work of God. — William Blake

Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white. — William Blake

The crow wished everything was black, the Owl, that everything was white. — William Blake

When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend. — William Blake

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

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. — William Blake

Active Evil is better than Passive Good. — William Blake

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

The soul of sweet delight, can never be defiled. — William Blake

He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star. — William Blake

If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out. — William Blake

They who forgive most shall be most forgiven. — William Blake

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. — William Blake

He who shall hurt the little wren Shall never be beloved by men. — William Blake

The weak in courage is strong in cunning. — William Blake

General knowledges are those knowledges that idiots possess. — William Blake

Exuberance is beauty. — William Blake

A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees. — William Blake

As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity, I collected some of their Proverbs. — William Blake

You've always had the power right there in your shoes, you just had to learn it for yourself. — William Blake

General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocite, flatterer. — William Blake

A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent. — William Blake

One thought fills immensity. — William Blake

To generalize is to be an idiot. — William Blake

Pay attention to minute particulars. Take care of the little ones. Generalization and abstraction are the plea of the hypocrite, scoundrel, and knave. — William Blake

Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps. — William Blake

I see through my eyes, not with them. — William Blake

He who pretends to be either painter or engraver without being a master of drawing is an imposter. — William Blake

Great things are done when men and mountains meet. — William Blake

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. — William Blake

Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius. — William Blake

Why stand we here trembling around, calling on God for help, and not ourselves, in whom God dwells? — William Blake

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

Man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern. — William Blake

He who wants, but doesn't act, is a pest. — William Blake

It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God only. — William Blake

He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars. — William Blake

O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; there thou may'st rest, And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe; And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty song of fruit and flowers. — William Blake

Those who restrain their desires, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained. — William Blake

Bring me my bow of burning gold: Bring me my arrows of desire: Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire. — William Blake

LOVE'S SECRET Never seek to tell thy love, Love that never told can be; For the gentle wind doth move Silently, invisibly. I told my love, I told my love, I told her all my heart, Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears. Ah! she did depart! Soon after she was gone from me, A traveller came by, Silently, invisibly: He took her with a sigh. — William Blake

I will not cease from mental fight Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand. — William Blake

Sweet babe, in thy face Soft desires I can trace, Secret joys and secret smiles, Little pretty infant wiles. — William Blake

Great things are done when men and mountains meet. This is not done by jostling in the street. — William Blake

Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh. — William Blake

Life Lessons by William Blake

1. William Blake's poetry often emphasizes the importance of staying true to oneself and being open to the beauty of the world around us. He encourages us to look beyond the mundane and appreciate the beauty of the natural world.
2. He also emphasizes the importance of being open to new ideas and not getting stuck in old ways of thinking. He encourages us to think for ourselves and to follow our own path in life.
3. Lastly, Blake teaches us to be kind and understanding to others, and to strive for justice and equality for all. He reminds us that we are all connected and should treat each other with respect.