Top 782 Quotes & Sayings by John Milton

He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.

They also serve who only stand and wait.

When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men look for.

Virtue could see to do what Virtue would by her own radiant light, though sun and moon where in the flat sea sunk.

The superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity and many deeds of the past, in order to strengthen his character thereby.

Let not England forget her precedence of teaching nations how to live.

None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but licence.

To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.

Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end.

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.

Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image, but thee who destroys a good book, kills reason its self.

He that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.

He that has light within his own clear breast May sit in the centre, and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts Benighted walks under the mid-day sun; Himself his own dungeon.

No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.

Beauty is nature's brag, and must be shown in courts, at feasts, and high solemnities, where most may wonder at the workmanship.

Death is the golden key that opens the palace of eternity.

Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.

A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit.

Nothing profits more than self-esteem, grounded on what is just and right.

Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.

True it is that covetousness is rich, modesty starves.

Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar Stood ruled, stood vast infinitude confined; Till at his second bidding darkness fled, Light shone, and order from disorder sprung.

The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

Deep-versed in books and shallow in himself.

For what can war, but endless war, still breed?

The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller.

Truth never comes into the world but like a bastard, to the ignominy of him that brought her birth.

Though we take from a covetous man all his treasure, he has yet one jewel left; you cannot bereave him of his covetousness.

He who destroys a good book kills reason itself.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

And live like Nature's bastards, not her sons.

Never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep.

There is nothing that making men rich and strong but that which they carry inside of them. True wealth is of the heart, not of the hand.

The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day.

When we speak of knowing God, it must be understood with reference to man's limited powers of comprehension. God, as He really is, is far beyond man's imagination, let alone understanding. God has revealed only so much of Himself as our minds can conceive and the weakness of our nature can bear.

Goodness thinks no ill Where no ill seems.

Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears, That show no end but death, and have the power, Of many ways to die the shortest choosing, Destruction with destruction to destroy.

Confidence imparts a wonderful inspiration to the possessor.

There is no learned man but will confess be hath much profited by reading controversies,--his senses awakened, his judgment sharpened, and the truth which he holds firmly established. If then it be profitable for him to read, why should it not at least be tolerable and free for his adversary to write? In logic they teach that contraries laid together, more evidently appear; it follows then, that all controversy being permitted, falsehood will appear more false, and truth the more true; which must needs conduce much to the general confirmation of an implicit truth.

Peace hath her victories, no less renowned than War.

Hard are the ways of truth, and rough to walk.

You can make hell out of heaven and heaven out of hell. It's all in the mind.

Where no hope is left, is left no fear.

The best apology against false accusers is silence.

Better to reign in hell than serve in heav'n.

Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil.

God made thee perfect, not immutable.

To live a life half dead, a living death.

Anarchy is the sure consequence of tyranny; for no power that is not limited by laws can ever be protected by them.

The end of all learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.

Solitude sometimes is best society.

Contemplation is wisdom's best nurse.

Long is the way and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.

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.

Apt words have power to suage the tumors of a troubled mind.

Good, the more communicated, more abundant grows.

The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven.

Innocence, Once Lost, Can Never Be Regained. Darkness, Once Gazed Upon, Can Never Be Lost.

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.