William Blake (1757-1827)

William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. What he called his "prophetic works" were said by the 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". While he lived in London his entire life, except for three years spent in Felpham, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich collection of works, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God", or "human existence itself".

Quotes

Energy is eternal delight.

Energy
I have always found that angels have the vanity to speak of themselves as the only wise.
When thou seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head!

Birds
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.
To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
Thou art a Man, God is no more.
Thy own humanity learn to adore.
He who binds himself to joy
Doth the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity's sunrise.
Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled.
He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence.
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom
I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's.
I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's.
Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you.
To generalize is to be an idiot.
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

Birds
The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.
When the doors of perception are cleansed, man will see things as they truly are, infinite.
I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me.

God
Innocence dwells with Wisdom, but never with Ignorance.

Ignorance