Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of Genius.

William Blake

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
Read The Marriage of Heaven and Hell at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Genius Incremental improvement Progress

Author

William Blake

Source

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1793 1790s 18th century

Occupation

Artist Poet Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Blake, William. "Proverbs of Hell." The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. c. 1790.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman. University of California Press, 2008.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by William Blake about genius: “Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are…”
Download
A quote by William Blake about genius: “Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are…”
Download
A quote by William Blake about genius: “Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are…”
Download

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 William Blake

Great things are done when men and mountains meet.

William Blake

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Man and nature Spending time in nature Nature

Author

William Blake
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
English
Time
1807 1810s 19th century
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Blake, William. The Notebook of William Blake. c. 1811.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "Great things are done when Men & Mountains meet." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. University of California Press, 2008.

Another quote from the 1790s

Make the Revolution a parent of settlement, and not a nursery of future revolutions.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Buy Reflections on the Revolution in France at Amazon Buy Reflections on the Revolution in France at Amazon
Read Reflections on the Revolution in France at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Revolution French Revolution

Author

Edmund Burke
Source
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Genre
Political literature
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1790 1790s 18th century
Era
Age of Enlightenment
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

Another quote about Progress

The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. The happy man inevitably confines himself within ancient limits.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The House of the Seven Gables

Read The House of the Seven Gables at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Theory of progress Progress

Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Source
The House of the Seven Gables
Medium
Novel
Language
English
Time
1851 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1851, ch. 20.

Current Citation

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables, edited by Robert S. Levine. W. W. Norton & Company, 2020, ch. 20.

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

Warren Buffet

Read this letter at Berkshire Hathaway's website
More information about this quote
Topic
Investing The stock market

Author

Warren Buffet
Source
Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders
Medium
Open letter Letter
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
2001 2000s 21st century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Buffett, Warren. Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders. 2001.