Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a major English Romantic poet, known for lyrical and political works such as Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind and Prometheus Unbound. His radical views on religion, society and individual liberty influenced later generations and he remains celebrated for his imaginative language and visionary themes.

Quotes by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Quotes: 1

Let imagination be the engine of your toil; beauty births the world you build. — Percy Bysshe Shelley

Imagination’s Engine and Beauty’s World-Building Power

Creative cultures institutionalize candor and iteration so vision can mature into form. Pixar’s Braintrust, described by Ed Catmull in Creativity, Inc. (2014), treats early drafts as starting points, not verdicts, letting honesty refine the beautiful core. Choreographer Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit (2003) prescribes routines—boxes, rituals, constraints—that keep imagination supplied with raw material. Likewise, reflective walks, sketchbooks, and critique sessions translate ideals into choices about proportion, rhythm, and tone. Through such habits, toil becomes the vehicle of imagination, while beauty—tested in use and felt in community—births the world we build, just as Shelley envisioned. [...]

Created on: 8/29/2025