Citations by William Butler Yeats

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The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

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When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

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All the heavy days are over;
Leave the body's coloured pride
Underneath the grass and clover,
With the feet laid side by side. [...]
Carry all that mournful beauty
To the scented oaken press.

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I think you can leave the arts, superior or inferior, to the conscience of mankind.

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I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.