John Milton · Paradise Lost, Book I, 1667
“The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”
| Source | John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667), Book I — spoken by Satan |
| Date | 1667 |
| Wording | Exact (modernized spelling) — verified at Project Gutenberg #26 |
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About This Line
Satan says it from the floor of Hell, and the full couplet is what gives it teeth: the mind can make a Heaven of Hell or a Hell of Heaven. Milton — blind, dictating the epic after everything he’d fought for had collapsed — put his most seductive idea in the mouth of the fallen.
Why We Carry This Line
Lost in thoughts? When I read this, it stopped me. And that’s why we carry it.
