How charming is divine Philosophy! Not harsh, and crabbed as dull fools suppose, But musical as is Apollo’s lute, And a perpetual feast of nectar’d sweets, Where no crude surfet raigns.
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..
Freely we serve
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall.
Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules
Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king.
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
Here at lastWe shall be free;the Almighty hath not builtHere for his envy, will not drive us hence:Here we may reign secure, and in my choiceTo reign is worth ambition though in Hell:Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.