---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The crow wished everything was black, the…"
description: "\"The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every thing was white.\" — William Blake"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg"
---

#  The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every…

![“The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every thing was white.” quote by William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg)

> “The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every thing was white.”

[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.

Contrasting colors symbolize opposing perspectives, urging balance between darkness and light.

**In simple terms:** Balance opposites.

Key Takeaway

Seek harmony between extremes.

Themes

balance perspective duality

Mood

thoughtful contemplative

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- art critique
- personal reflection
- conflict resolution

Key Concepts

symbolism contrast philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

- What does darkness represent for you?
- How can you integrate opposing views?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on one side can cause bias.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Black Owl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-owl-3179326/) [Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crow/) [Crow Wished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crow-wished-3179323/) [Owl Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/owl-thing-3179324/) [Wished Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wished-black-3179325/)

## Related quotes

> [The crow wished everything was black, the Owl, that everything was white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the-owl-that-everything-was-white/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [“Racism itself is black. It's OWL. It's everywhere. It's Our Whole Life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhavik-sarkhedi/racism-itself-is-black-it-s-owl-it-s-everywhere-it-s-our-whole-life/)

[Bhavik Sarkhedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhavik-sarkhedi/)

> [The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-eagle-never-lost-so-much-time-as-when-he-submitted-to-learn-of/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [If you want to fly with the eagles you can't hang out with the crows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-lesnar/if-you-want-to-fly-with-the-eagles-you-can-t-hang-out-with-the-crows/)

[Brock Lesnar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-lesnar/)

> [Which is bigger? A baby eagle or a giant crow?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rona-barrett/which-is-bigger-a-baby-eagle-or-a-giant-crow/)

[Rona Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rona-barrett/)

> [Paraphrased: When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples began planning a splendid funeral. However some disciples expressed concern that given a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/paraphrased-when-chuang-tzu-was-about-to-die-his-disciples-began/)

[Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/)

> [“Is that a crow I hear, calling the raven black?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/is-that-a-crow-i-hear-calling-the-raven-black/)

[George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/)

> [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/)

> [“music puts me in touch with life's energy and death still hanging like an old crow on the vines of my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/music-puts-me-in-touch-with-life-s-energy-and-death-still-hanging/)

[Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/)

> [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/)

[Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/)

> [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/)

[John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/)

> [Here the crow starves, here the patient stag Breeds for the rifle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-stearns-eliot/here-the-crow-starves-here-the-patient-stag-breeds-for-the-rifle/)

[Thomas Stearns Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-stearns-eliot/)

> [“I pull his hand up to my chest. "It's okay. Some of my best friends are in the mob. It must be really tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorge-leedy/i-pull-his-hand-up-to-my-chest-it-s-okay-some-of-my-best-friends-are/)

[Giorge Leedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorge-leedy/)

> [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. All because he'd wanted to live, forget genius and destiny, and simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/that-fucking-crow-bodied-thing-had-won-how-gleeful-it-was-now-all/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

## 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 &amp; 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 Animals quotes

> [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/)

[Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/)

> [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/)

[Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/)

> [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/)

[Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/)

> [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/)

[Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/)

> [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/)

[Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

> [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It’s a small thing to help one animal, but to that one animal it’s a big thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-baur/it-s-a-small-thing-to-help-one-animal-but-to-that-one-animal-it-s-a/)

[Gene Baur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-baur/)

> [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/)

[Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/)

> [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/)

[Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/)

> [We're not very dangerous animals; we don't have a horn like a rhino or quills like a porcupine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/we-re-not-very-dangerous-animals-we-don-t-have-a-horn-like-a-rhino-or/)

[Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/)

> [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/)

[Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/)

> [“Plenty of animals had pets, but few were more devoted than the mouse, who owned a baby corn snake—“A rescue snake, she’d be quick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sedaris/plenty-of-animals-had-pets-but-few-were-more-devoted-than-the-mouse/)

[David Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sedaris/)

> [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/)

[Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/)

> [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/)

[Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/)

[Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every thing was white.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Blake"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the-owl-that-every-thing-was/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Animals"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the-owl-that-every-thing-was/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1d/william-blake-397_animals_the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the_1140813.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every thing was white.” — 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": "The crow wished everything was black,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the-owl-that-every-thing-was/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-crow-wished-everything-was-black-the-owl-that-every-thing-was/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
