Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Inspirational Quotes By W.B. Yeats That Will Give You New Perspective Of Life

Famous As: One of the Greatest English-Language Poets of the 20th Century and 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature Winner
Born On: June 13, 1865
Died On: January 28, 1939
Born In: Sandymount, Ireland
Died At Age: 73
 A list of the greatest Irish poets and litterateurs of all time cannot go without the mention of William Butler Yeats. A Nobel laureate, Yeats was an indomitable literary figure of the 20th century who eventually became a pillar of British and Irish literary establishments. He served as one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre and was a chief playwright until John Synge. Interestingly, though Yeats received Nobel Prize chiefly for his dramatic works, his significance today however rests on his lyric achievement. He is one of the few writers whose most prolific works came in after the coveted Nobel Prize. Yeats later works comprising of ‘The Wild Swans at Coole’, ‘Michael Robartes and the Dancer’, ‘The Tower’, ‘The Winding Stair and Other Poems’ and ‘Last Poems and Plays’ made him one of the most outstanding and influential twentieth-century poets. Unlike other modernists of his era, Yeats was a master of traditional style. He used allusive imagery and symbolic structures throughout his life. His works are based on recurrent themes that are the contrast of art and life, physical and spiritual masks, cyclical theories of life and the ideal of beauty and ceremony contrasting with the hubbub of modern life. Even today, his poetry remains highly popular and has been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered by new literary and performance movements. However, the rich legacy of poetry is not the only thing that Yeats left behind after him. He also gave the world some of the most meaningful collection of quotes that have given readers a new perspective and a new vision to life and values. Explore this section and brief yourself.
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I have spread my dreams under your feet.
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

I have spread my dreams under your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W B Yeats
The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.

W B Yeats
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.

For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.

W B Yeats
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

W B Yeats
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

W B Yeats
A mermaid found a swimming lad, 
Picked him up for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.

A mermaid found a swimming lad, Picked him up for her own, Pressed her body to his body, Laughed; and plunging down Forgot in cruel happiness That even lovers drown.

W B Yeats
Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.

Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame.

W B Yeats
Life is a long preparation for something that never happens.

Life is a long preparation for something that never happens.

W B Yeats
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." (Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven)

W B Yeats
What can be explained is not poetry.

What can be explained is not poetry.

W B Yeats
Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.

Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.

W B Yeats
WINE comes in at the mouth 
And love comes in at the eye; 
That's all we shall know for truth 
Before we grow old and die. 
I lift the glass to my mouth, 
I look at you, and sigh.

WINE comes in at the mouth And love comes in at the eye; That's all we shall know for truth Before we grow old and die. I lift the glass to my mouth, I look at you, and sigh.

W B Yeats
There is another world, but it is in this one.

There is another world, but it is in this one.

W B Yeats
Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.

Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry.

W B Yeats
In dreams begin responsibilities.

In dreams begin responsibilities.

W B Yeats
Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and seize whatever prey the heart long for, and have no fear. Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet.

Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and seize whatever prey the heart long for, and have no fear. Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet.

W B Yeats
...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...

...I'm looking for the face I had, before the world was made...

W B Yeats
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

W B Yeats
How many loved your moments of glad grace, 
 And loved your beauty with love false or true; 
 But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, 
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

W B Yeats
Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

W B Yeats
There are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet.

There are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet.

W B Yeats
I bring you with reverent hands
The books of my numberless dreams.

I bring you with reverent hands The books of my numberless dreams.

W B Yeats
The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober.

The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober.

W B Yeats
To long a sacrifice can make a stone of a heart

To long a sacrifice can make a stone of a heart

W B Yeats
All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions.

All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions.

W B Yeats
Too many things are occurring for even a big heart to hold.

Too many things are occurring for even a big heart to hold.

W B Yeats
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned
By those who are not entirely beautiful.

Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned By those who are not entirely beautiful.

W B Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of sleep 
 And nodding by the fire, take down this book, 
 And slowly read, and dream of the soft look 
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep

When you are old and grey and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep

W B Yeats
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

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

W B Yeats
I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I guard I do not love.

I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I guard I do not love.

W B Yeats