Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”
- Source
- Paradise Lost
- Date
- 1667
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Satan
Meaning of “The mind is its own place, and in…”
The line gives mental interpretation enormous power, while its speaker and dramatic context also caution against treating self-deception as wisdom.
Where does it come from?
Paradise Lost (1667), Book I, lines 254–255; Satan speaks the sentence beginning ‘The mind is its own place.’ This collection retains normalized modern orthography; the scan-backed 1667 transcription reads forms including ‘in it self’ and ‘Heav’n.’ Character context matters because this is Satan’s argument, not Milton speaking autobiographically.
Why the local voice matters
Satan speaks in Paradise Lost, Book I; the speaker context materially complicates the aphorism.
