John Milton
John Milton
John Miltonwas an English poet, polemicist, and man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth9 December 1608
patience waiting patience-and-waiting
They also serve who only stand and wait.
patience stars air
This having learnt, thou hast attained the sum Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the stars Thou knew'st by name, and all th'ethereal powers, All secrets of the deep, all nature's works, Or works of God in heav'n, air, earth, or sea, And all the riches of this world enjoy'dst, And all the rule, one empire; onlyadd Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith, Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love, By name to come called charity, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A paradise within thee, happier far.
farewell paradise-lost-book-9 adieu
Farewell Hope, and with Hope farewell Fear
life hate long
Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou livest, Live well; how long, or short, permit to Heaven.
life men humans
For men to tell how human life began Is hard; for who himself beginning knew?
teacher knowledge law
The teachers of our law, and to propose What might improve my knowledge or their own.
inspirational rolling cherubs
To adore the conqueror, who now beholds Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood.
anniversary wedding law
Hail, wedded love, mysterious law; true source of human happiness.
fear no-hope left
Where no hope is left, is left no fear.
freedom law anarchy
Anarchy is the sure consequence of tyranny; for no power that is not limited by laws can ever be protected by them.
freedom men good-man
None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license.
freedom fall sufficient
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
freedom men rome
For stories teach us, that liberty sought out of season, in a corrupt and degenerate age, brought Rome itself to a farther slavery: for liberty hath a sharp and double edge, fit only to be handled by just and virtuous men; to bad and dissolute, it becomes a mischief unwieldy in their own hands: neither is it completely given, but by them who have the happy skill to know what is grievance and unjust to a people, and how to remove it wisely; what good laws are wanting, and how to frame them substantially, that good men may enjoy the freedom which they merit, and the bad the curb which they need.
hope doleful paradise-lost-book-1
Where peace And rest can never dwell, hope never comes, That comes to all.