The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

W.B. Yeats

The Second Coming

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Read The Second Coming at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of civilization Moral decline

Author

W.B. Yeats

Source

The Second Coming

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Occupation

Poet Writer

From

Ireland Europe

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." The Dial, Nov. 1920.

Current Citation

Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." W. B. Yeats: The Major Works, edited by Edward Larrissy. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by W.B. Yeats about decline of civilization: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of…”
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A quote by W.B. Yeats about decline of civilization: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of…”
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A quote by W.B. Yeats about decline of civilization: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by W.B. Yeats

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.

W.B. Yeats

More information about this quote
Topic
Remorse Regrets

Author

W.B. Yeats
Source
Vacillation
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1933 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Yeats, William Butler. "Vacillation." The Winding Stair and Other Poems. The Macmillan Company, 1933, pt. 5, st. 2.

Current Citation

Yeats, William Butler. "Vacillation." W. B. Yeats: The Major Works, edited by Edward Larrissy. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 5, st. 2.

Another quote from the 1920s

I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how
beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.

Langston Hughes

I, Too

Read I, Too at Poetry Foundation
More information about this quote
Topic
Black experience Race relations America

Author

Langston Hughes
Source
I, Too
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Prophecies and predictions
Language
English
Time
1926 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Hughes, Langston. "I, Too." The Weary Blues. Alfred A. Knopf, 1926, I. 1.

Current Citation

Hughes, Langston. The Weary Blues. Alfred A. Knopf, 2015, epilogue.

Another quote from 1920

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.

William Ralph Inge

The Idea of Progress

More information about this quote
Topic
Animal cruelty Man and animals
Speaker
William Ralph Inge
Source
The Idea of Progress
Medium
Lecture
Language
English
Time
1920 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Inge, William Ralph. "The Idea of Progress." Romanes Lecture. 27 May 1920, The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, England, UK. Lecture.