Quotations from works by John Milton
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties
Areopagitica
Nor love thy life, nor hate: but what thou livs’t
Live well
Paradise Lost book xi
Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt,
Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled
Comus
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i’th’ centre and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the midday sun
Comus
The mind is its own place and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of
Heav’n
Paradise Lost book i
The Childhood shows the man
As morning shows the day
Paradise Regained book iii
Thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait
Sonnet xvi On His Blindess
Yet I argue not
Against Heav’n’s hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer
Right onward
Sonnet xxi to Cyriack Skinner
Peace hath her victories
No less renowned than war
Sonnet xvi to the Lord General Cromwell
What boots it at one gate to make defence,
And at another to let in the foe?
Samson Agonistes
As good as almost kill a man as kill a good book

Areopagitica
At last he rose, and twitch’d his mantle blue:
To-morrow to fresh woods, and pastures new
Lycidas
In those vernal seasons of the year, when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against Nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth
Tractate of Education