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Percy Bysshe Shelley Quotes

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Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.

Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Positive, Fear, Moving Forward

The crime of inquiry is one which religion never has forgiven.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Inquiry, Crime, Forgiven
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1859). “Shelley Memorials: From Authentic Sources : Now First Printed”, p.30

Life may change, but it may fly not; Hope may vanish, but can die not; Truth be veiled, but still it burneth; Love repulsed, - but it returneth!

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Love, Life, Change
1822 'Hellas', l.34-7.

Away, away, from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs, - To the silent wilderness, Where the soul need not repress Its music.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Men, Rivers, Soul
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1872). “A Selection from the Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley Edited with a Memoir by Mathilde Blind”, p.84

Sometimes it's better to put love into hugs than to put it into words. Soul meets soul on lovers' lips.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Soul, Hug, Lips

The more we study the more we discover our ignorance.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ignorance, Study, Funny Exam
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1824). “Posthumous Poems”, p.367

When my cats aren't happy, I'm not happy. Not because I care about their mood but because I know they're just sitting there thinking up ways to get even.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Happy, Humorous, Cat

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Sad, Song, Musical
"To a Skylark" l. 88 (1819)

I arise from dreams of thee In the first sweet sleep of night, when the winds are breathing low, and the stars are shining bright.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Love, Sexy, Dream
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1874). “The Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley”, p.299

GOVERNMENT has no rights; it is a delegation from several individuals for the purpose of securing their own. It is therefore just, only so far as it exists by their consent, useful only so far as it operates to their well-being.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Rights, Government, Purpose
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Richard Herne Shepherd (1810). “The Prose Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley ... Ed. ... by Richard Herne Shepherd”, p.284

Love withers under constraints: its very essence is liberty: it is compatible neither with obedience, jealousy, nor fear.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
New Relationship, Essence, Liberty
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1994). “The Selected Poetry and Prose of Shelley”, p.74, Wordsworth Editions

a single word even may be a spark of inextinguishable thought

Percy Bysshe Shelley
May, Sparks, Single Word
'A Defence of Poetry' (written 1821; published 1840)

I love tranquil solitude.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Solitude, Tranquil
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1840). “The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley”, p.294

Words are but holy as the deeds they cover.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Deeds, Holy
Percy Bysshe Shelley, G. Cuningham (1856). “The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: With Notes”, p.16

Until the mind can love, and admire, and trust, and hope, and endure, reasoned principles of moral conduct are seeds cast upon the highway of life which the unconscious passenger tramples into dust.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Dust, Mind, Principles
Percy Bysshe Shelley (2015). “Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: Top Complete Works Collection”, p.432, 谷月社

A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Sweet, Cheer, Being Alone
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1840). “A defence of poetry. Essay on the literature, arts, and manners of the Athenians. Preface to the Banquet of Plato. The banquet”, p.34

Strange thoughts beget strange deeds.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Deeds, Strange, Begets
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1853). “The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: Complete in One Volume”, p.294

If a person's religious ideas correspond not with your own, love him nevertheless

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Love, Family, Happiness
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1994). “The Selected Poetry and Prose of Shelley”, p.559, Wordsworth Editions

If he is infinitely good, what reason should we have to fear him? If he is infinitely wise, what doubts should we have concerning our future? If he knows all, why warn him of our needs and fatigue him with our prayers? If he is everywhere, why erect temples to him? If he is just, why fear that he will punish the creatures that he has filled with weaknesses?

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Wise, Prayer, Doubt
Percy Bysshe Shelley (2012). “Uma Defesa da Poesia e Outros Ensaios (Edição Bilíngue): Edição bilíngue português - inglês”, p.199, Editora Landmark LTDA

O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Spring, Winter, Clouds
"Ode to the West Wind" l. 70 (1819)

And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Inspirational, Dream, Nature
Percy Bysshe Shelley (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (Illustrated)”, p.416, Delphi Classics

Poets, not otherwise than philosophers, painters, sculptors, and musicians, are, in one sense, the creators, and, in another, the creations, of their age.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Age, Musician, Philosopher
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1994). “The Selected Poetry and Prose of Shelley”, p.227, Wordsworth Editions

For love and beauty and delight, there is no death nor change.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Delight
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1845). “Essays, Letters from Abroad, Translations and Fragments”, p.8

Nothing wilts faster than laurels that have been rested upon.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Action, Laurels, Faster

All spirits are enslaved which serve things evil

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Evil, Spirit, Positive Atheism
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Geoffrey Matthews, Kelvin Everest (1989). “The Poems of Shelley: 1817-1819”, p.564, Pearson Education

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