--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do what you will, this life's a fiction…" description: "\"“Do what you will, this life's a fiction, And it is made up of contradiction.”\" — William Blake" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg" --- # Do what you will, this life's a fiction, And it is made up… ![“Do what you will, this life's a fiction, And it is made up of contradiction.” quote by William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg) > ““Do what you will, this life's a fiction, And it is made up of contradiction.”” [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a narrative full of contradictions, inviting personal freedom to shape its story. **In simple terms:** Life is fictional, full of contradictions. Key Takeaway Embrace life's contradictions. Themes philosophy creativity freedom Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal journaling - creative writing - life coaching - spiritual practice Key Concepts self‑determination artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What contradictions define your life? - How do you resolve them? A Different Perspective Contradictions can cause confusion if not reconciled. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Do what you will, this world's a fiction and is made up of contradiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/do-what-you-will-this-world-s-a-fiction-and-is-made-up-of/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [“I wish life were a fiction novel. Then everyone would have to do what I say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-m-pillow/i-wish-life-were-a-fiction-novel-then-everyone-would-have-to-do-what/) [Michelle M. Pillow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-m-pillow/) > [Nothing that rest on some contradictory basis shall succeed or last in the long run ("ne saurait réussir ou durer, à la longue", Fr.);…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/african-spir/nothing-that-rest-on-some-contradictory-basis-shall-succeed-or-last/) [African Spir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/african-spir/) > [In art, and maybe just in general, the idea is to be able to be really comfortable with contradictory ideas. In other words, wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/in-art-and-maybe-just-in-general-the-idea-is-to-be-able-to-be-really/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [She was the reason I was a reader, and being a reader was what had made me most myself; it had given me the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/she-was-the-reason-i-was-a-reader-and-being-a-reader-was-what-had/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [It is not that I love contradictions: life is contradictory. Existence itself is possible only through contradictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/it-is-not-that-i-love-contradictions-life-is-contradictory-existence/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Christians must show that misery fits the good for heaven, while happiness prepares the bad for hell; that the wicked get all their good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/christians-must-show-that-misery-fits-the-good-for-heaven-while/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [We all do things at certain points that are contradictory. Some things, it's a smaller contradiction, and other things it's larger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giancarlo-esposito/we-all-do-things-at-certain-points-that-are-contradictory-some-things/) [Giancarlo Esposito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giancarlo-esposito/) > [If I go out into nature, into the unknown, to the fringes of knowledge, everything seems mixed up and contradictory, illogical, and incoherent. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-szent-gyorgyi/if-i-go-out-into-nature-into-the-unknown-to-the-fringes-of-knowledge/) [Albert Szent-Gyorgyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-szent-gyorgyi/) > [“The inclusion of just one contradiction (like 0 = 1) in an axiomatic system allows any statement about the objects in the system to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/the-inclusion-of-just-one-contradiction-like-0-1-in-an-axiomatic/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [A photograph is a meeting place where the interests of the photographer, the photographed, the viewer and those who are using the photograph are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/a-photograph-is-a-meeting-place-where-the-interests-of-the/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Comic books were telling me what life was about. This was how I kind of entered life, through fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/comic-books-were-telling-me-what-life-was-about-this-was-how-i-kind/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [I think that if you use something from you life in fiction, it metamorphosizes into something strange and different. Afterward it is hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/i-think-that-if-you-use-something-from-you-life-in-fiction-it/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [75% of what happens to Paul Gascoigne in his life is fiction..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-hoddle/75-of-what-happens-to-paul-gascoigne-in-his-life-is-fiction/) [Glenn Hoddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-hoddle/) > [“Beauty in life and fiction is a mixture of Fairy Tale and Tragedy. Men see a pretty face and want to claim the image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-jones/beauty-in-life-and-fiction-is-a-mixture-of-fairy-tale-and-tragedy-men/) Lori Jones ## More by William Blake > [Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/poetry-fettered-fetters-the-human-race-nations-are-destroyed-or/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Where any view of money exists, art cannot be carried on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/where-any-view-of-money-exists-art-cannot-be-carried-on/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [God only acts and is, in existing beings or men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/god-only-acts-and-is-in-existing-beings-or-men/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/kill-not-the-moth-nor-butterfly-for-the-last-judgement-draweth-nigh/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/imagination-is-the-real-and-eternal-world-of-which-this-vegetable/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Painters are noted for being dissipated and wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/painters-are-noted-for-being-dissipated-and-wild/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Time is the mercy of Eternity; without Time's swiftness Which is the swiftest of all things, all were eternal torment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/time-is-the-mercy-of-eternity-without-time-s-swiftness-which-is-the/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-difference-between-a-bad-artist-and-a-good-one-is-the-bad-artist/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Cruelty has a human heart, and jealousy a human face. Terror, the human form divine, And secrecy, the human dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/cruelty-has-a-human-heart-and-jealousy-a-human-face-terror-the-human/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [A dead body revenges not injuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/a-dead-body-revenges-not-injuries/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/those-who-restrain-desire-do-so-because-theirs-is-weak-enough-to-be/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [To generalize is to be an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/to-generalize-is-to-be-an-idiot/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [THE POISON TREE I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-poison-tree-i-was-angry-with-my-friend-i-told-my-wrath-my-wrath/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The bird a nest the spider a web the human friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-bird-a-nest-the-spider-a-web-the-human-friendship/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) [Explore all 592 William Blake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## More Contradiction quotes > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. To survive in mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kac/to-exist-in-mathematics-said-henri-poincar-is-to-be-free-from/) [Mark Kac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kac/) > [“In these creations, life and symbolic value are not in contradiction: they intensify each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/in-these-creations-life-and-symbolic-value-are-not-in-contradiction/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I have never agreed with my other self wholly. The truth of the matter seems to lie between us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/i-have-never-agreed-with-my-other-self-wholly-the-truth-of-the-matter/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“A truth is not necessary, because we negatively are not able to conceive the actual existence of the opposite thereof;but a truth is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-dabney/a-truth-is-not-necessary-because-we-negatively-are-not-able-to/) R.L. Dabney > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The reflection of nature in man's thought must be understood not lifelessly but in the eternal process of movement, the arising of contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/the-reflection-of-nature-in-man-s-thought-must-be-understood-not/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) [Browse all 1,263 Contradiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Do what you will, this life's a fiction, And it is made up of contradiction.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Blake" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-and-it-is-made-up-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contradiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-and-it-is-made-up-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90b/william-blake-397_contradiction_do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-a_2604571.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Do what you will, this life's a fiction, And it is made up of contradiction.” — William Blake", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Blake", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Do what you will, this life's...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-and-it-is-made-up-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/do-what-you-will-this-life-s-a-fiction-and-it-is-made-up-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```