Quotes from book

Paradise Lost

“Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.”

“Who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.”

“Thou art my father, thou my author, thou my being gav'st me; whom should I obey but thee, whom follow?”

“Heaven is for thee too high
To know what passes there; be lowly wise.
Think only what concerns thee and thy being;
Dream not of other worlds, what creatures there
Live, in what state, condition, or degree,
Contented that thus far hath been revealed.”

“Our cure, to be no more; sad cure!”

“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?”

“Then wilt thou not be loath
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee, happier far.”

“Farewell happy fields,
Where joy forever dwells: Hail, horrors, hail.”

“So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign,
Under her own weight groaning.”

“Ah, why should all mankind
For one man's fault, be condemned,
If guiltless?”

“Awake, arise or be for ever fall’n.”

“I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to reascend…”

“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.”

“From his lips/Not words alone pleased her.”

“This horror will grow mild, this darkness light.”

“Solitude sometimes is best society.”

“They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late thir happie seat,
Wav'd over by that flaming Brand, the Gate
With dreadful Faces throng'd and fierie Armes:
Som natural tears they drop'd, but wip'd them soon;
The World was all before them, where to choose
Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:
They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,
Through EDEN took thir solitarie way.”

“To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.”

“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.”