William Butler Yeats
Ireland
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
13 Jun 1865 // 28 Jan 1939
Poet
Quotes
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Like a long-legged fly upon the stream
His mind moves upon silence.
His mind moves upon silence.
Last Poems, 1936-1939, long-Legged fly, refrain
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.
Are nine-and-fifty swans.
The Wild Swans at Coole 1919. The Wild Swans at Coole
Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.
The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.
Last Poems,1936-1939, The Apparitions, refrain
When I play on my fiddle in Dooney
Folk dance like a wave of the sea.
Folk dance like a wave of the sea.
The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899, The Fiddler of Dooney
Evil comes to all us men of imagination wearing as its mask all the virtues.
Be secret and exult,
Because of all things known
That is most difficult.
Because of all things known
That is most difficult.
Responsibilities. To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober.
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths
Enwrought with gold and silver light.
Enwrought with gold and silver light.
The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899, He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
Search
On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays