“Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.”
John Milton book Paradise Lost
Variant: Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
Source: Paradise Lost
Quotes from bookParadise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton . The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books with minor revisions throughout. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men."
John Milton book Paradise Lost
i.17-26
Paradise Lost (1667)
Context: And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert th' Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.
John Milton book Paradise Lost
i.254-255
Paradise Lost (1667)
Variant: The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.
Source: Paradise Lost: Books 1-2
John Milton book Paradise Lost
Variant: All is not lost, the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal hate, and the courage never to submit or yield.
Source: Paradise Lost
“Our torments also may in length of time
Become our Elements.”
John Milton book Paradise Lost
Source: Paradise Lost
“For so I created them free and free they must remain.”
John Milton book Paradise Lost
Source: Paradise Lost
