“The cistern contains: the fountain overflows.”William Blake · Căsătoria Cerului cu Infernul · 1793 · Proverbele Infernului
Blake distinguishes two natures: the cistern gathers and keeps, the fountain flows without calculating. Both hold water, but only one is alive. The mechanism is psychological: whoever lives to accumulate — money, praise, security — lives in permanent deficit, because the tank could always be fuller. Whoever lives to give — through work, art, generosity — is not depleted but fed by the very act of overflowing.
Why it matters Helps you audit your own life: are you organized to keep or to produce, and what kind of person each choice makes.