Paradise Lost Quotes

“What hath night to do with sleep?”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“We are all strangers in a strange land, longing for home, but not quite knowing what or where home is. We glimpse it sometimes in our dreams, or as we turn a corner, and suddenly there is a strange, sweet familiarity that vanishes almost as soon as it comes.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth

“This horror will grow mild, this darkness light.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate
With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms:
Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide;
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“It is so simple and easy to hate and so grueling and hard to love, when the emotional “love forever”- revelation has become a crumbling “love never, ever again”- crack-up. There is no route back to a paradise lost, when the bonds of trust have, irrevocably, been blasted. ("Another empty room")”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Still paying, still to owe.
Eternal woe! ”
― John Milton

“Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong naming from the ethereal sky,
With hideous ruin and combustion, down
To bottomless perdition ; there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire,
Who durst defy the Omnipotent to arms.”
― John Milton

“They changed their minds, Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell.”
― John Milton

“The Prologue to TERRITORY LOST

"Of cats' first disobedience, and the height
Of that forbidden tree whose doom'd ascent
Brought man into the world to help us down
And made us subject to his moods and whims,
For though we may have knock'd an apple loose
As we were carried safely to the ground,
We never said to eat th'accursed thing,
But yet with him were exiled from our place
With loss of hosts of sweet celestial mice
And toothsome baby birds of paradise,
And so were sent to stray across the earth
And suffer dogs, until some greater Cat
Restore us, and regain the blissful yard,
Sing, heavenly Mews, that on the ancient banks
Of Egypt's sacred river didst inspire
That pharaoh who first taught the sons of men
To worship members of our feline breed:
Instruct me in th'unfolding of my tale;
Make fast my grasp upon my theme's dark threads
That undistracted save by naps and snacks
I may o'ercome our native reticence
And justify the ways of cats to men.”
― Henry N. Beard, Poetry for Cats: The Definitive Anthology of Distinguished Feline Verse

“I know that the fact that I am always searching for God, always struggling to discover the fullness of Love, always yearning for the complete truth, tells me that I have already been given a taste of God, of Love and of Truth. I can only look for something that I have, to some degree, already found. How can I search for beauty and truth unless that beauty and truth are already known to me in the depth of my heart? It seems that all of us human beings have deep inner memories of the paradise that we have lost.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

“Filled with pride, he thought maybe the problem was not him, but God. Out of jealousy for the son, he decided that he and his legions should not worship or obey God.”
― Joseph Stemberga, A Paraphrase of Paradise Lost for Youngsters: The Tragedy of Lucifer

“O Father,” the Son replied, “I represent you in all things. As my face reflects your greatness, goodness, love, and warmth, so now it shall reflect the terror you inflict upon the disobedient.”
― Joseph Stemberga, A Paraphrase of Paradise Lost for Youngsters: The Tragedy of Lucifer

“No light, but rather darkness visible
Served only to discover sight of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes at all; but torture without end”
― John Milton

“Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate:
Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat
Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe,
That all was lost.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“At God’s declaration of war, dark clouds covered all of Heaven and smoke began to roll down the sacred hill. Then the countless hosts of Heaven marched on the enemy, fully armed from head to toe with helmets, spears, and shields.”
― Joseph Stemberga, A Paraphrase of Paradise Lost for Youngsters: The Tragedy of Lucifer

“so much the fear,
Of Thunder and the Sword of Michael,
Wrought still within them:”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“And of, though wisdom wake, suspicion
sleeps at wisdom's gate, and to simplicity
Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no
ill Where no ill seems.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“My life feels like a dream that has already ended. There's nothing to fear and nothing to rejoice about. I should feel happy, but instead, I feel nothing. Lately, I experience a profound sense of emptiness. This void is unmistakable, even when I try to convince myself otherwise. It is beautiful, boundless, full yet empty. Now I've come to understand what people mean about memories—whether they are good or bad, they always leave you feeling a bit more empty afterward. After an ending, there's just a long stretch of time where it seems everything has concluded and nothing new will ever begin. Maybe there is no path back to a lost paradise.”
― Rolf van der Wind

“Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky,
With hideous ruin and combustion, down
To bottomless perdition; there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire,
Who durst defy the Omnipotent to arms.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“Pure as th’expanse of heav’n; I thither went
With unexperienced thought, and laid me down
On the green bank, to look into the clear
Smooth lake, that to me seemed another sky.
As I bent down to look, just opposite,
A shape within the wat’ry gleam appeared
Bending to look on me, I started back,
It started back, but pleased I soon returned,
Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks
Of sympathy and love; there I had fixed
Mine eyes till now and pined with vain desire,
Had not a voice thus warned me-”
― John Milton

“To whom thus Eve repli'd. O thou for whom
And from whom I was formd flesh of thy flesh,
And without whom am to no end, my Guide
And Head, what thou hast said is just and right.
For wee to him indeed all praises owe,
And daily thanks, I chiefly who enjoy
So farr the happier Lot, enjoying thee
Præeminent by so much odds, while thou
Like consort to thy self canst no where find.
That day I oft remember, when from sleep
I first awak't, and found my self repos'd
Under a shade of flours, much wondring where
And what I was, whence thither brought, and how.
Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound
Of waters issu'd from a Cave and spread
Into a liquid Plain, then stood unmov'd
Pure as th' expanse of Heav'n; I thither went
With unexperienc't thought, and laid me downe
On the green bank, to look into the cleer
Smooth Lake, that to me seemd another Skie.
As I bent down to look, just opposite,
A Shape within the watry gleam appeard
Bending to look on me, I started back,
It started back, but pleas'd I soon returnd,
Pleas'd it returnd as soon with answering looks
Of sympathie and love; there I had fixt
Mine eyes till now, and pin'd with vain desire,
Had not a voice thus warnd me, What thou seest,
What there thou seest fair Creature is thy self,
With thee it came and goes: but follow me,
And I will bring thee where no shadow staies
Thy coming, and thy soft imbraces, hee
Whose image thou art, him thou shalt enjoy
Inseparablie thine, to him shalt beare
Multitudes like thy self, and thence be call'd
Mother of human Race: what could I doe,
But follow strait, invisibly thus led?
Till I espi'd thee, fair indeed and tall,
Under a Platan, yet methought less faire,
Less winning soft, less amiablie milde,
Then that smooth watry image; back I turnd,
Thou following cryd'st aloud, Return faire Eve,
Whom fli'st thou? whom thou fli'st, of him thou art,
His flesh, his bone; to give thee being I lent
Out of my side to thee, neerest my heart
Substantial Life, to have thee by my side
Henceforth an individual solace dear;
Part of my Soul I seek thee, and thee claim
My other half: with that thy gentle hand
Seisd mine, I yielded, and from that time see
How beauty is excelld by manly grace
And wisdom, which alone is truly fair.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“sometimes paradise happens
too early and leaves us shuddering in its wake”
― Kaveh Akbar

“so much the fear,
Of Thunder and the Sword of Michael,
Wrought still within them:”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

“It is significant," he said after a pause, "that the English regard slackness as a vice. We, on the other hand, should vastly prefer it to tension. Is there not too much tension in the world at present, and might it be better if more people were slackers?”
― James Hilton, Lost Horizon

“The rise of consciousness, synaptic pruning, hormonal shifts, and transitions in brainwave patterns, all expel the child from Eden and push it into the normal world. Adam and Eve always have to leave paradise to grow up.”
― Rob Armstrong, Children See Dead People: Children's Spooky Powers

“The greatest kingdom of all time is the kingdom of heaven.”
― Tamerlan Kuzgov

“Paradise lost is all the sweeter rediscovered—and damnation not nearly as sour as you might imagine.”
― Peter Fehervari, The Thirteenth Psalm

“If you will not have authority you will find yourself obeying brute force.”
― C.S. Lewis

“There is only one sin. That is weakness. When a boy I read Milton's Paradise Lost. The only good man I had arny respect only for was Satan. The saint is that soul that never weakens, faces everything and determines to die game.”
― Swami Vivekananda, Thoughts on the Gita

“What though the field be lost?
All is not lost: th' unconquerable will
And study of revenge, immortal hate
And courage never to submit or yield”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost