John Milton
John Milton
John Miltonwas an English poet, polemicist, and man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth9 December 1608
conscience unsought virtue
Her virtue and the conscience of her worth,/ That would be wooed, and not unsought be won.
surprised unjust virtue
Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt, / Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled.
flat moon radiant sea sun though virtue
Virtue could see to do what Virtue would / By her own radiant light, though sun and moon / Were in the flat sea sunk.
alone climb feeble follow higher itself love stoop teach virtue
Mortals, that would follow me, / Love virtue, she alone is free, / She can teach ye how to climb / Higher than the sphery chime; / Or if virtue feeble were, / Heav'n itself would stoop to her.
awful devil felt goodness lovely saw shape virtue
Abash'd the Devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is, and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely
passion ingredients virtue
Wherefore did he [God] create passions within us, pleasures round about us, but that these rightly tempered are the very ingredients of virtue?
would-be virtue conscience
Her virtue and the conscience of her worth, That would be woo'd, and not unsought be won.
war conquer virtue
The conquer'd, also, and enslaved by war, Shall, with their freedom lost, all virtue lose.
virtue chimes ifs
Or if Virtue feeble were, Heav'n itself would stoop to her.
growth virtue vicious
God sure esteems the growth and completing of one virtuous person, more that the restraint of ten vicious.
virtue circumstances prudence
Prudence is the virtue by which we discern what is proper to do under various circumstances in time and place.
virtue
Virtue that wavers is not virtue.
virtue chimes teach
Love Virtue, she alone is free, She can teach ye how to climb Higher than the sphery chime; Or, if Virtue feeble were, Heav'n itself would stoop to her.
men virtue admire
Most men admire Virtue who follow not her lore.