William Morris Quotes - Page 2

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• Speak not, move not, but listen, the sky is full of gold. No ripple on the river, no stir in field or fold, All gleams but naught doth glisten, but the far-off unseen sea. Forget days past, heart broken, put all memory by! No grief on the green hillside, no pity in the sky, Joy that may not be spoken fills mead and flower and tree.

  William Morris

  Memories, Flower, Moving

  52 Copy quote

• Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life.

  William Morris

  Art, People, Human Life

  William Morris, Norman Kelvin (1999). “William Morris on Art and Socialism”, p.37, Courier Corporation

  35 Copy quote

• With the arrogance of youth, I determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I have succeeded in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work goes on.

  William Morris

  Blessed, Men, Arrogance Of Youth

  "William Morris & Red House". Book by Jan Marsh, p. 65, 2005.

  25 Copy quote

• You may hang your walls with tapestry insread of whitewash or paper; or you may cover them with mosaic; or have them frescoed by a great painter: all this is not luxury, if it be done for beauty's sake, and not for show: it does not break our golden rule: Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

  William Morris

  Beautiful, Wall, Believe

  William Morris, Norman Kelvin (1999). “William Morris on Art and Socialism”, p.53, Courier Corporation

  38 Copy quote

• Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization.

  William Morris

  Beautiful, Passion, Civilization

  William Morris (2012). “News from Nowhere”, p.7, Courier Corporation

  8 Copy quote

• The heart desires, the hand refrains. The Godhead fires, the soul attains.

  William Morris

  Art, Hands, Fire

  William Morris (2002). “The Earthly Paradise”, p.12, Psychology Press

  6 Copy quote

• Free men must live simple lives and have simple pleasures.

  William Morris

  Simple, Men, Simplicity

  8 Copy quote

• That talk of inspiration is sheer nonsense; there is no such thing. It is a mere matter of craftsmanship.

  William Morris

  Inspiration, Matter, Nonsense

  16 Copy quote

• A good way to rid one's self of a sense of discomfort is to do something. That uneasy, dissatisfied feeling is actual force vibrating out of order; it may be turned to practical account by giving proper expression to its creative character.

  William Morris

  Character, Self, Expression

  16 Copy quote

• All rooms ought to look as if they were lived in, and to have so to say, a friendly welcome ready for the incomer.

  William Morris

  Friendly, Looks, Rooms

  William Morris, May Morris (2012). “The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris”, p.113, Cambridge University Press

  7 Copy quote

• A man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body. Memory and imagination help him as he works.

  William Morris

  Memories, Exercise, Men

  William Morris, Norman Kelvin (1999). “William Morris on Art and Socialism”, p.129, Courier Corporation

  42 Copy quote

• I have said as much as that the aim of art was to destroy the curse of labour by making work the pleasurable satisfaction of our impulse towards energy, and giving to that energy hope of producing something worth its exercise.

  William Morris

  Art, Exercise, Giving

  William Morris, May Morris (2012). “The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris”, p.91, Cambridge University Press

  49 Copy quote

• ...If our houses, or clothes, our household furniture and utensils are not works of art, they are either wretched makeshifts, or, what is worse, degrading shams of better things.

  William Morris

  Art, Clothes, House

  William Morris, May Morris “The Collected Works of William Morris: Hopes and fears for art. Lectures on art and industry”

  16 Copy quote

• It is the childlike part of us that produces works of the imagination. When we were children time passed so slow with us that we seemed to have time for everything.

  William Morris

  Children, Imagination, Produce

  William Morris (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of William Morris (Illustrated)”, p.717, Delphi Classics

  10 Copy quote

• Don't think too much of style.

  William Morris

  Thinking, Design, Style

  William Morris, May Morris (2012). “The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris”, p.168, Cambridge University Press

  13 Copy quote

• The reward of labour is life. Is that not enough?

  William Morris

  Rewards, Life Is, Enough

  'News from Nowhere' (1891) ch. 15

  6 Copy quote

• Love is Enough Love is enough: though the world be a-waning, And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining, Though the skies be too dark for dim eyes to discover The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder, Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder, And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over, Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter: The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

  William Morris

  Fear, Eye, Dark

  William Morris (2012). “Poems By The Way & Love Is Enough”, p.239, tredition

  24 Copy quote

• A pattern is either right or wrong...it is no stronger than its weakest point.

  William Morris

  Design, Stronger, Patterns

  William Morris, May Morris (2012). “The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris”, p.110, Cambridge University Press

  7 Copy quote

• One man with an idea in his head is in danger of being considered a madman: two men with the same idea in common may be foolish, but can hardly be mad; ten men sharing an idea begin to act, a hundred draw attention as fanatics, a thousand and society begins to tremble, a hundred thousand and there is war abroad, and the cause has victories tangible and real; and why only a hundred thousand? Why not a hundred million and peace upon the earth? You and I who agree together, it is we who have to answer that question.

  William Morris

  Real, War, Men

  William Morris, Norman Kelvin (1999). “William Morris on Art and Socialism”, p.127, Courier Corporation

  19 Copy quote

• Speak but one word to me.

  William Morris

  Speak, One Word

  William Morris (1858). “The defence of Guenevere and other poems”, p.246

  4 Copy quote

• I love art, and I love history, but it is living art and living history that I love. It is in the interest of living art and living history that I oppose so-called restoration. What history can there be in a building bedaubed with ornament, which cannot at the best be anything but a hopeless and lifeless imitation of the hope and vigor of the earlier world?

  William Morris

  Art, Ornaments, Restoration

  William Morris, May Morris (2012). “The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris”, p.233, Cambridge University Press

  14 Copy quote

• It has become an article of the creed of modern morality that all labour is good in itself -- a convenient belief to those who live on the labour of others. But as to those on whom they live, I recommend them not to take it on trust, but to look into the matter a little deeper.

  William Morris

  Work, Littles, Matter

  William Morris (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of William Morris (Illustrated)”, p.6349, Delphi Classics

  7 Copy quote

• So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.

  William Morris

  Art, Mean, Civilization

  William Morris, May Morris (2012). “The Collected Works of William Morris: With Introductions by His Daughter May Morris”, p.172, Cambridge University Press

  55 Copy quote

• Large or small, [the garden] should be orderly and rich. It should be well fenced from the outside world. It should by no means imitate either the willfulness or the wildness of nature, but should look like a thing never to be seen except near the house. It should, in fact, look like part of the house.

  William Morris

  Mean, Garden, House

  9 Copy quote

• If there is a reason for keeping the wall very quiet, choose a pattern that works all over without pronounced lines...Put very succinctly, architectural effect depends upon a nice balance of horizontal, vertical and oblique. No rules can say how much of each; so nothing can really take the place of feeling and good judgement.

  William Morris

  Wall, Nice, Judgement

  6 Copy quote

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