Welcome to our collection of quotes by William Morris, a renowned British textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist of the 19th century. Morris was a multifaceted figure whose influence spanned various artistic and social spheres, leaving an indelible mark on the Arts and Crafts movement and beyond. His eloquent words continue to resonate with readers worldwide, offering insights into art, society, and the human condition.
Born in 1834, William Morris became a leading figure in the Victorian era’s cultural landscape, advocating for the revival of traditional craftsmanship and the rejection of industrialization’s dehumanizing effects. His philosophy centered on the idea of creating beautiful and functional objects, crafted with care and attention to detail. Through his writings, designs, and activism, Morris sought to challenge prevailing notions of art and commerce, championing the importance of creativity, sustainability, and social justice. As we delve into his quotes, we invite you to explore the wisdom and inspiration encapsulated in his words, and consider how they might resonate with your own journey and aspirations. Now, let’s delve into the timeless wisdom of William Morris.
We shall not be happy unless we live like good animals, unless we enjoy the exercise of the ordinary functions of life: eating, sleeping, loving, walking, running, swimming, riding, sailing. William Morris
To do nothing but grumble and not to act – that is throwing away one’s life. William Morris
Give me love and work – these two only. William Morris
Apart from the desire to produce beautiful things, the leading passion of my life has been and is hatred of modern civilization. William Morris
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. William Morris
I can’t enter into politico-social subjects with any interest, for on the whole, I see that things are in a muddle, and I have no power or vocation to set them right in ever so little a degree. William Morris
The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life. William Morris
The reward of labour is life. Is that not enough? William Morris
If you cannot learn to love real art, at least learn to hate sham art and reject it. William Morris
So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die. William Morris
A man at work, making something which he feels will exist because he is working at it and wills it, is exercising the energies of his mind and soul as well as of his body. Memory and imagination help him as he works. William Morris
History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created. William Morris
I pondered all these things, and how men fight and lose the battle, and the thing that they fought for comes about in spite of their defeat, and when it comes turns out not to be what they meant, and other men have to fight for what they meant under another name. William Morris
Happy as we are, times may alter; we may be bitten with some impulse towards change, and many things may seem too wonderful for us to resist, too exciting not to catch at, if we do not know that they are but phases of what has been before and withal ruinous, deceitful, and sordid. William Morris
The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make. William Morris
Not on one strand are all life’s jewels strung. William Morris
No man is good enough to be another’s master. William Morris
It took me years to understand that words are often as important as experience, because words make experience last. William Morris
I want a real revolution, a real change in society: society, a great organic mass of well-regulated forces used for the bringing-about a happy life for all. William Morris
We are living in a epoch where there is combat between commercialism, or the system of reckless waste, and communism, or the system of neighbourly common sense. William Morris
I am going, if I can, to be an architect, and I am too old already, and there is no time to lose. William Morris
I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few. William Morris
I don’t remember being taught to read, and by the time I was seven years old, I had read a very great many books, good, bad, and indifferent. William Morris
It is right and necessary that all should have work to do which shall be worth doing and be of itself pleasant to do, and which should be done under such conditions as would make it neither over-wearisome nor over-anxious. William Morris
How often it consoles me to think of barbarism once more flooding the world, and real feelings and passions, however rudimentary, taking the place of our wretched hypocrisies. William Morris
