William Morris
William Morris
William Morriswas an English textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist. Associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement, he was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he played a significant role in propagating the early socialist movement in Britain...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 March 1834
real war men
One man with an idea in his head is in danger of being considered a madman: two men with the same idea in common may be foolish, but can hardly be mad; ten men sharing an idea begin to act, a hundred draw attention as fanatics, a thousand and society begins to tremble, a hundred thousand and there is war abroad, and the cause has victories tangible and real; and why only a hundred thousand? Why not a hundred million and peace upon the earth? You and I who agree together, it is we who have to answer that question.
simple simplicity foundation
Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement.
flower night garden
I know a little garden close Set thick with lily and red rose, Where I would wander if I might From dewy dawn to dewy night. And have one with me wandering.
song sweet half
O thrush, your song is passing sweet, But never a song that you have sung Is half so sweet as thrushes sang When my dear love and I were young.
men made should
Nothing should be made by man's labour which is not worth making, or which must be made by labour degrading to the makers.
reality past alive
The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make.
forgiveness sea paradise
So with this Earthly Paradise it is, If ye will read aright, and pardon me, Who strive to build a shadowy isle of bliss Midmost the beating of the steely sea...
winter past sky
Late February days; and now, at last, Might you have thought that Winter's woe was past; So fair the sky was and so soft the air.
art exercise giving
I have said as much as that the aim of art was to destroy the curse of labour by making work the pleasurable satisfaction of our impulse towards energy, and giving to that energy hope of producing something worth its exercise.
memories grief flower
Speak not, move not, but listen, the sky is full of gold. No ripple on the river, no stir in field or fold, All gleams but naught doth glisten, but the far-off unseen sea. Forget days past, heart broken, put all memory by! No grief on the green hillside, no pity in the sky, Joy that may not be spoken fills mead and flower and tree.
beautiful design no-excuses
There is no excuse for doing anything which is not strikingly beautiful.
art people human-life
Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life.
encouragement hands long
I am going your way, so let us go hand in hand. You help me and I'll help you. We shall not be here very long ... so let us help one another while we may.
art want art-education
I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.