--- title: "3 Balanced Quotes By William Butler Yeats" description: "3 Balanced quotes by William Butler Yeats. Plus more from William Butler Yeats and more Balanced sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fc/william-butler-yeats-350_ambition_i-had-still-the-ambition-formed-in-sligo_1061840.jpg" --- > [I had still the ambition, formed in Sligo in my teens, of living in imitation of Thoreau on Innisfree, a little island…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-had-still-the-ambition-formed-in-sligo-in-my-teens-of-living-in/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fc/william-butler-yeats-350_ambition_i-had-still-the-ambition-formed-in-sligo_1061840.jpg) > [I balanced all, brought all to mind, the years to come seemed waste of breath, a waste of breath the years behind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-balanced-all-brought-all-to-mind-the-years-to-come-seemed-waste-of-2/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/william-butler-yeats-350_balance_i-balanced-all-brought-all-to-mind-the-y_1299847.png) > [An Irish Airman foresees his Death I Know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/an-irish-airman-foresees-his-death-i-know-that-i-shall-meet-my-fate/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e2/william-butler-yeats-350_airmen_an-irish-airman-foresees-his-death-i-kno_2444906.png) ## Other authors on Balanced ## More by William Butler Yeats > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/you-know-what-the-englishman-s-idea-of-compromise-is-he-says-some/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/that-toil-of-growing-up-the-ignominy-of-boyhood-the-distress-of/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-see-a-schoolboy-when-i-think-of-him-with-face-and-nose-pressed-to-a/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Only God, my dear, Could love you for yourself alone And not your yellow hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/only-god-my-dear-could-love-you-for-yourself-alone-and-not-your/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-only-begin-to-live-when-we-conceive-life-as-tragedy/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-know-that-i-shall-meet-my-fate-somewhere-among-the-clouds-above/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses-the-dim-gray-sands-with-light-far/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [His element is so fine Being sharpened by his death, To drink from the wine-breath While our gross palates drink from the whole wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/his-element-is-so-fine-being-sharpened-by-his-death-to-drink-from-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We poets would die of loneliness but for women, and we choose our men friends that we may have somebody to talk about women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-poets-would-die-of-loneliness-but-for-women-and-we-choose-our-men/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/love-is-created-and-preserved-by-intellectual-analysis-for-we-love/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/who-dreamed-that-beauty-passes-like-a-dream-for-these-red-lips-with/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balanced/william-butler-yeats/#itemlist", "name": "3 Balanced Quotes By William Butler Yeats", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had still the ambition, formed in Sligo in my teens, of living in imitation of Thoreau on Innisfree, a little island in Lough Gill, and when walking through Fleet Street very homesick I heard a little tinkle of water and saw a fountain in a shop window which balanced a little ball upon its jet, and began to remember lake water. 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