In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy
Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom
Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity
He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence
The cut worm forgives the plow
Dip him in the river who loves water
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees
He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star
Eternity is in love with the productions of time
The busy bee has no time for sorrow
The hours of folly are measur’d by the clock, but of wisdom: no clock can measure
All wholsom food is caught without a net or a trap
Bring out number weight & measure in a year of dearth
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings
A dead body, revenges not injuries
The most sublime act is to set another before you
If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise
Folly is the cloke of knavery
Shame is Prides cloke
Prisons are built with stones of Law, Brothels with bricks of Religion
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
Excess of sorrow laughs
Excess of joy weeps
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
The fox condemns the trap, not himself
Joys impregnate
Sorrows bring forth
Let man wear the fell of the lion, woman the fleece of the sheep
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship
The selfish smiling fool, & the sullen frowning fool, shall be both thought wise, that they may be a rod
What is now proved was once, only imagin’d
The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbit: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits
The cistern contains; the fountain overflows
One thought, fills immensity
Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you
Every thing possible to be believ’d is an image of truth
The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow
The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion
Think in the morning
Act in the noon
Eat in the evening
Sleep in the night
He who has suffer’d you to impose on him knows you
As the plow follows words, so God rewards prayers
The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction
Expect poison from the standing water
You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough
Listen to the fools reproach! it is a kingly title! The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air, the mouth of water, the beard of earth
The weak in courage is strong in cunning
The apple tree never asks the beech how he shall grow, nor the lion, the horse, how he shall take his prey
The thankful reciever bears a plentiful harvest
If others had not been foolish, we should be so
The soul of sweet delight, can never be defil’d
When thou seest an Eagle, thou seest a portion of Genius, lift up thy head! As the catterpiller chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys
To create a little flower is the labour of ages
Damn, braces: Bless relaxes
The best wine is the oldest, the best water the newest
Prayers plow not! Praises reap not! Joys laugh not! Sorrows weep not! ~ The head Sublime, the heart Pathos, the genitals Beauty, the hands & feet Proportion
As the air to a bird of the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible
The crow wish’d every thing was black, the owl, that every thing was white
Exuberance is Beauty
If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning
Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius
Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires
Where man is not nature is barren
Truth can never be told so as to be understood, and not be believ’d
Enough! or Too much!
William Blake (1757 – 1827), “Proverbs of Hell”, from “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”, 1790-3
