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Authors:

William Butler Yeats quotes

Irish Poet June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939

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Quotes

Books are but waste paper unless we spend in action the wisdom we get from thought - asleep. When we are weary of the living, we may repair to the dead, who have nothing of peevishness, pride, or design in their conversation. William Butler Yeats
What is literature but the expression of moods by the vehicle of symbol and incident? And are there not moods which need heaven, hell, purgatory, and faeryland for their expression, no less than this dilapidated earth? Nay, are there not moods which shall find no expression unless there be men who dare to mix heaven, hell, purgatory, and faeryland together, or even to set the heads of beasts to the bodies of men, or to thrust the souls of men into the heart of rocks? Let us go forth, the... William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats quote: "We had fed the heart on fantasies, / The heart’s grown brutal..."
We had fed the heart on fantasies, / The heart’s grown brutal from the fare." (Meditations in Time of Civil War) William Butler Yeats
You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no God. The truth probably lies somewhere between these two statements. William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats quote: "I bring you with reverent hands. The books of my numberless..."
I bring you with reverent hands. The books of my numberless dreams. William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats quote: "O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know..."
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, How can we know the dancer from the dance? William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats quote: "and pluck till time and times are done The silver apples of..."
...and pluck till time and times are done The silver apples of the moon, The golden apples of the sun. William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats quote: "I think you can leave the arts, superior or inferior, to the..."
I think you can leave the arts, superior or inferior, to the conscience of mankind. William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats quote: "I think it better that in times like these a poet's mouth be..."
I think it better that in times like these a poet's mouth be silent, for in truth we have no gift to set a statesman right. William Butler Yeats
(I) only write it now because I have grown to believe that there is no dangerous idea, which does not become less dangerous when written out in sincere and careful English. ("The Adoration of The Magi") William Butler Yeats
Chance and Destiny have between them woven two-thirds of all history, and of the history of Ireland wellnigh the whole. The literature of a nation, on the other hand, is spun out of its heart. If you would know Ireland - body and soul - you must read its poems and stories. They came into existence to please nobody but the people of Ireland. Government did not make them on the one hand, nor bad seasons on the other. They are Ireland talking to herself. William Butler Yeats
The woods of Arcady are dead, And over it their antique joy; Of old the world on dreaming fed; Gray Truth is now her painted toy. William Butler Yeats
The host is rushing 'twixt day and night, And where is there hope or deed as fair? Caoilte tossing his burning hair, And Niamh calling Away, come away. William Butler Yeats
We have fallen in the dreams the ever-livingBreathe on the tarnished mirror of the world, And then smooth out with ivory hands and sigh. William Butler Yeats
From man's blood-sodden heart are sprung. Those branches of the night and day. Where the gaudy moon is hung. What's the meaning of all song?"Let all things pass away. William Butler Yeats

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