John Milton

"A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life."

"For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them."

"“And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.”"

"“How can I live without thee, how forego Thy sweet converse, and love so dearly joined, To live again in these wild woods forlorn?Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no, no, I feel The link of nature draw me: flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe. However, I with thee have fixed my lot, Certain to undergo like doom; if death Consort with thee, death is to me as life; So forcible within my heart I feel The bond of nature draw me to my own, My own in thee, for what thou art is mine; Our state cannot be severed, we are one, One flesh; to lose thee were to lose myself.”"

"“What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,The labor of an age in pilèd stones,Or that his hallowed relics should be hid Under a star-y-pointing pyramid?Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?”"

"I will not deny but that the best apology against false accusers is silence and sufferance, and honest deeds set against dishonest words."

"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but licence."

"Death is the golden key that opens the palace of eternity."

"Beauty is nature's brag, and must be shown in courts, at feasts, and high solemnities, where most may wonder at the workmanship."

"The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller."

"Grace was in all her steps heaven in her eye In every gesture dignity and love."

"Wickedness is weakness."

"The brazen throat of war."

"Most men admire Virtue who follow not her lore."

"Who overcomes By force hath overcome but half his foe."

"So many laws argue so many sins."

"Servant of God well done."

"They also serve who only stand and wait."

"He who reigns within himself and rules his passions desires and fears is more than a king."

"Oftentimes nothing profits more than self-esteem grounded on what is just and right and well-managed."