Quotes from William Blake

The strongest poison ever knownCame from Caesar's laurel crown.

But most through midnight streets I hearHow the youthful harlot's curseBlasts the newborn infant's tearAnd blights with plagues the marriage hearse.

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.

To generalize is to be an idiot. To particularize is the alone distinction of merit—general knowledges are those knowledges that idiots possess.

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.

Eternity is in love with the production of time.

One Law for the Lion & Ox is Oppression.

And all must love the human form,In heathen, turk, or jew;Where Mercy, Love, & Pity dwellThere God is dwelling too.

He who shall teach the child to doubtThe rotting grave shall ne'er get out.

O Earth, O Earth, return! Arise from out the dewy grass; Night is worn; And the morn Rises from the slumbrous mass.

And I made a rural pen,And I stain'd the water clear,And I wrote my happy songsEvery child may joy to hear.

The harlot's cry from street to streetShall weave old England's winding sheet.

The narrow bud opens her beauties to The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins; Blossoms hang round the brows of morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest eve...

The moon like a flowerIn heaven's high bower,With silent delight,Sits and smiles on the night.

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

Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau.Mock on, mock on—'tis all in vain!You throw the sand against the wind,And the wind blows it back again.

I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.

And throughout all eternityI forgive you, you forgive me.

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

Piping 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.

Cruelty has a human heart,And Jealousy a human face;Terror, the human form divine,And Secrecy, the human dress.

Man was made for joy and woe,And when this we rightly knowThrough the world we safely go.

God Appears and God is LightTo those poor Souls who dwell in Night,But does a Human Form DisplayTo those who Dwell in Realms of day.

I'll shade him from the heat till he can bearTo lean in joy upon our Father's knee;And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,And be like him and he will then love me.