William Butler Yeats Quotes

If suffering brings wisdom, I would wish to be less wise.

The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober.

There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met.

I sigh that kiss you, For I must own That I shall miss you When you have grown.

All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions.

How can we know the dancer from the dance?

I heard the old, old, men say 'all that's beautiful drifts away, like the waters.'

Life is a long preparation for something that never happens.

Man can embody truth but he cannot know it.

In dreams begins responsibility.

"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.'.

Why should we honour those that die upon the field of battle? A man may show as reckless a courage in entering into the abyss of himself.

Wine comes in at the mouth And love comes in at the eye; That's all we shall know for truth Before we grow old and die.

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.

You that would judge me, do not judge alone this book or that, come to this hallowed place where my friends' portraits hang and look thereon; Ireland's history in their lineaments trace; think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends.

Time drops in decay, Like a candle burnt out, And the mountains and woods Have their day, have their day;.

But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

In dreams begin responsibility.

Things said or done long years ago, Or things I did not do or say But thought that I might say or do, Weigh me down, and not a day But something is recalled, My conscience or my vanity appalled.

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

Speak, speak, for underneath the cover there The sand is running from the upper glass, And when the last grain's through, I shall be lost.

Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.

A mermaid found a swimming lad, Picked him for her own, Pressed her body to his body, Laughed; and plunging down Forgot in cruel happiness That even lovers drown.

I hear the wind a blow I hear the grass a grow, And all that I know, I know. But I will not speak, I will run away.

Man can embody truth but he cannot know it. The intellect of man is forced to choose perfection of the life, or of the work, and if it take the second must refuse a heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.