Little Fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

William Blake

Songs of Experience

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More information about this quote

Topic

Man and animals Empathy Insignificance of man

Author

William Blake

Source

Songs of Experience

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1794 1790s 18th century

Occupation

Artist Poet Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Blake, William. "The Fly." Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. London, 1794.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Fly." William Blake: Selected Poems, edited by Nicholas Shrimpton. Oxford University Press, 2019.

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A quote by William Blake about man and animals: “Little Fly, Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brushed away. Am…”
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A quote by William Blake about man and animals: “Little Fly, Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brushed away. Am…”
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A quote by William Blake about man and animals: “Little Fly, Thy summer's play My thoughtless hand Has brushed away. Am…”
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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 William Blake

And throughout all eternity
I forgive you, you forgive me.

William Blake

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More information about this quote
Topic
Forgiveness

Author

William Blake
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1804 1800s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Blake, William. Poem written in his notebook. c. 1804.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "My Spectre around me night & day." William Blake: Selected Poems, edited by Nicholas Shrimpton. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Another quote from the 1790s

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a feather-bed.

Thomas Jefferson

More information about this quote
Topic
Price of freedom

Author

Thomas Jefferson
Medium
Letter
Language
English
Time
1790 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to Marquis de Lafayette. 2 Apr. 1790.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "The Marquis de Lafayette, April 2, 1790." The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Including the Autobiography, The Declaration of Independence & His Public and Private Letters, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden. Modern Library, 1998.

Another quote about Man and animals

There is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.

Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

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Read Moby-Dick at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Man and animals

Author

Herman Melville
Source
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
Medium
Novel
Language
English
Time
1851 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. London: Richard Bentley/New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, ch. 87.

Current Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick or, The Whale. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 87.