Commerce is so far from being beneficial to Arts or to Empire, that it is destructive of both, as all their History shows, for the above Reason of Individual Merit being its Great Hatred. Empires flourish till they become Commercial & then they are scattered abroad to the four winds
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Commerce destroys arts and empires because it hates individual merit, leading to their eventual scattering.
- In plain terms
- Commerce hurts art and empires by hating personal worth.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid letting commerce dominate culture and governance.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does commerce inevitably degrade culture?
- Can merit exist in a commercial society?
Another view
History shows trade often funds arts and stabilizes empires.
More from William Blake
Art is the tree of life. SCIENCE is the Tree of DEATH ART is the Tree of LIFE GOD is JESUS
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