The phrase “For Every Thing That Lives Is Holy” resonates with a profound spiritual power. Many people recognize its deep connection to nature and divinity. However, its specific origin often remains a mystery. This powerful declaration comes from the pen of William Blake, an 18th-century poet, artist, and visionary. He was a figure whose work consistently challenged the religious and social norms of his day. To truly understand this quote, we must trace it back to its source. We will explore the revolutionary context in which Blake first wrote it.
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The Origin: A Chorus of Revolution
The quote first appears in William Blake’s seminal work, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Blake composed this book of prose, poetry, and engravings around 1790. Specifically, the line serves as the final, climactic statement in a section titled “A Song of Liberty.” This is not a quiet, pastoral poem. Instead, it is a fiery, prophetic chorus that celebrates political and spiritual revolution. The song describes the overthrow of a tyrannical sky-god and the dawn of a new age of freedom.
Blake concludes this revolutionary anthem with a chorus that lists a series of radical tenets. The final line, “For Every Thing That Lives Is Holy,” acts as the ultimate philosophical justification for the entire piece. It is the core belief from which all other freedoms spring. Therefore, its placement is not accidental. Blake deliberately positions it as the foundational truth of his new, liberated world. Scholars widely regard The Marriage of Heaven and Hell as one of Blake’s most influential and challenging works . Source
Unpacking a Radical Theology
At its heart, the quote is a declaration of immanent divinity. Blake rejected the conventional Christian idea of a distant, transcendent God who rules from above. Instead, he saw the divine as present within every part of creation. Every animal, every plant, and every human body was, for him, a sacred vessel. This perspective directly challenged the church’s teachings. It suggested that one did not need a priest or a holy book to experience God. One only needed to open their eyes to the life teeming around them.
This idea was revolutionary for its time. It directly contradicted the doctrine of Original Sin, which viewed the material world and the human body as fallen and corrupt. William Blake: Religion and Mythology, in contrast, celebrated the body and its energies. He believed that what organized religion called “evil” was often just vital energy that society had repressed. Consequently, his statement is a powerful affirmation of the goodness and sanctity of the physical world.
Overthrowing Spiritual Dualism
Furthermore, the quote is a direct assault on the concept of dualism. Western thought has long separated reality into opposing pairs: good and evil, body and soul, heaven and hell, reason and energy. Blake saw these divisions as “mind-forg’d manacles” that limited human potential. In William Blake: The Marriage of Heaven an…, he famously argues that a true vision of life requires the union of these opposites. Hell, for him, represents bodily energy and creative impulse, while Heaven represents reason and control.
A healthy existence requires both. Thus, when William Blake: The Complete Illuminated … declares that everything living is holy, he erases the line between the sacred and the profane. There is no part of existence that is not divine. The tiger is as holy as the lamb. Passion is as holy as reason. This holistic worldview is central to his entire artistic and philosophical project. It invites humanity to embrace all facets of life as part of a divine whole.
A Lasting Echo in Blake’s Universe
The idea that “Every Thing That Lives Is Holy” is not an isolated thought within Blake’s work. It is a foundational principle that echoes throughout his later poetry and prophecies. We see it in Songs of Innocence and of Experience, where he explores the sacredness of childhood and the natural world. For example, poems like “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” both investigate the divine presence in creatures of gentleness and ferocity. William Blake: A Critical Essa…
This theme also permeates his complex prophetic books, such as Jerusalem and Milton. In these works, William Blake: Poetry and Prose builds an intricate mythology centered on the idea of humanity’s fall into division and its eventual reunification into a divine, imaginative state. The journey is always back toward recognizing the holiness inherent in all things. Therefore, this single line from “A Song of Liberty” provides a key to unlocking his entire universe. It is the philosophical bedrock upon which his imaginative world stands.
In summary, Blake’s famous quote is far more than a simple, pleasant sentiment. It is a revolutionary declaration from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. It encapsulates his belief in an immanent God, his rejection of dualism, and his celebration of all life energy. It remains a powerful and inspiring call to see the sacred in the world around us. William Blake: Poetry, Biograp…