John Milton1608–1674The quotations of
John Milton
English poet and civil servant
1608–1674
22 quotes, most often on Truth & Lies, Time and Good & Evil.
- Often credited to Henry Kissinger
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.Paradise Lost (1667), i.262-263In context- To the Lord General Cromwell (1652)
Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell,
And devilish machinations come to nought.Paradise Regained (1671), Book I: Lines 72-73The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.Paradise Lost (1667), i.254-255In contextAnd so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.On Shakespeare (1630)- Arcades (1630-1634), line 68
- Lycidas (1637), Line 78In context
- On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity (1629), Hymn, stanza 14, line 135
Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch as the sunbeam.
The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643), IntroductionMen of most renowned virtue have sometimes by transgressing most truly kept the law.
Tetrachordon (1644–1645)None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license.
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)License they mean when they cry, Liberty!
For who loves that must first be wise and good.On the Detraction which followed upon my writing certain Treatises, reported in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!On His Having Arrived at the Age of Twenty-three (1631)
