“Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” --John Milton
“The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free: th’Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in hell; Better to reign in hell than serve in heav’n.”
–Paradise Lost, Book One, lines 254-263
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost
John Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including twelve books, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval. It addressed the fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and God's expulsion of them from the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost elevated Milton's reputation as one of history's greatest poets. He also served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer
Public domain image of the oil on canvas painting "Fallen Angel" L'ange déchu from the Musée Fabre in Montpellier by Alexandre Cabanel on Wikimedia Commons adapted using the Wikipedia app
“Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” --John Milton
“The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free: th’Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in hell; Better to reign in hell than serve in heav’n.”
–Paradise Lost, Book One, lines 254-263
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost
John Milton (1608–1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including twelve books, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval. It addressed the fall of man, including the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and God's expulsion of them from the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost elevated Milton's reputation as one of history's greatest poets. He also served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer
Public domain image of the oil on canvas painting "Fallen Angel" L'ange déchu from the Musée Fabre in Montpellier by Alexandre Cabanel on Wikimedia Commons adapted using the Wikipedia app