48 quotes
English poet and artist (1757–1827)
“He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence.”
"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way."
on Philosophy
"Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not be believed."
on Truth
"If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they'd immediately go out."
"Vision is the end of religion."
on Religion
"The naked woman’s body is a portion of eternity too great for the eye of man."
on Love
"The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
on Wisdom
"We live as One Man for contracting our infinite senses we behold multitude or expanding: we behold as one."
"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."
"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."
on Imagination
"The lamb misused breeds public strifeAnd yet forgives the butcher's knife."
on Forgiveness
"Time is the mercy of Eternity without Time's swiftness/ Which is the swiftest of all things: all were eternal torment."
on Time
"Dip him in the river who loves water."
"It is right it should be so Man was made for joy and woe And when this we rightly know Through the world we safely go."
on Life
"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."
"Some are born to sweet delight Some are born to endless night."
"I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare My business is to create."
on Entrepreneurship
"Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius."
"Improvement makes straight roads but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius."
on Creativity
"Everything that lives lives not alone nor for itself."
on Community
"You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough."
