A professor is a man who tells you how to solve problems which would never have arisen if you had not met him.
W.H. Auden
Education, Academia, Irony, Problem-solving, Intellectual Criticism
W.H. Auden’s Quotes On Topics
Individual Paths | Blessing | Wealth | Self-centeredness | Life Cycle | Displacement | Vice | Tragedy | Competition | Poetic Imagery | Learning | Crime | Emotional Support | Recognition | Inner Life | Family | Appearances | Self-doubt | Knowledge | Meaning | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“We must love one another or die.” W.H. Auden
Love, Survival, Human Connection, Necessity, Ultimatum
W.H. Auden Love, Survival, Human Connection, Necessity, Ultimatum“From beginning to end Wilde performed his life and continued to do so even after fame had taken the plot out of his own hands.” W.H. Auden
Oscar Wilde, Performance, Life As Art, Fame, Literary Biography
W.H. Auden Oscar Wilde, Performance, Life As Art, Fame, Literary Biography“Life remains a blessing, even if we are incapable of recognizing it.” W.H. Auden
Life, Blessing, Perception, Gratitude, Human Limitation
W.H. Auden Life, Blessing, Perception, Gratitude, Human Limitation“It's a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Culture, Money, Art Criticism, Artistic Value
W.H. Auden Poetry, Culture, Money, Art Criticism, Artistic Value“We were put on this earth to make things.” W.H. Auden
Purpose, Creativity, Human Nature, Production, Existence
W.H. Auden Purpose, Creativity, Human Nature, Production, Existence“I just try to put the thing out and hope somebody will read it. Someone says: 'Whom do you write for?' I reply: 'Do you read me?' If they say 'Yes,' I say, 'Do you like it?' If they say 'No,' then I say, 'I don't write for you.'” W.H. Auden
Writing, Audience, Self-expression, Literary Purpose, Reader Interaction
W.H. Auden Writing, Audience, Self-expression, Literary Purpose, Reader Interaction“Truth, like love and sleep, resents approaches that are too direct.” W.H. Auden
Truth, Love, Sleep, Indirectness, Human Nature
W.H. Auden Truth, Love, Sleep, Indirectness, Human Nature“Let us honor if we can the vertical man, though we value none but the horizontal one.” W.H. Auden
Values, Morality, Societal Preferences, Human Nature, Irony
W.H. Auden Values, Morality, Societal Preferences, Human Nature, Irony“Christmas and Easter can be subjects for poetry, but Good Friday, like Auschwitz, cannot. The reality is so horrible it is not surprising that people should have found it a stumbling block to faith.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Faith, Suffering, Reality, Limits Of Expression
W.H. Auden Poetry, Faith, Suffering, Reality, Limits Of Expression“The sky is darkening like a stain Something is going to fall like rain And it won’t be flowers.” W.H. Auden
Foreboding, Nature, Negativity, Metaphor, Anticipation
W.H. Auden Foreboding, Nature, Negativity, Metaphor, Anticipation“Get up very early and get going at once. In fact, work first and wash afterwards.” W.H. Auden
Productivity, Priorities, Work Ethic, Routine, Advice
W.H. Auden Productivity, Priorities, Work Ethic, Routine, Advice“The parlour cars and Pullmans are packed also with scented assassins, salad-eaters who murder on milk.” W.H. Auden
Social Criticism, Class, Violence, Appearances, Irony
W.H. Auden Social Criticism, Class, Violence, Appearances, Irony“Though one cannot always Remember exactly why one has been happy, There is no forgetting that one was.” W.H. Auden
Happiness, Memory, Emotions, Human Experience, Past Joy
W.H. Auden Happiness, Memory, Emotions, Human Experience, Past Joy“The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.” W.H. Auden
Senses, Familiarity, Novelty, Perception, Human Nature
W.H. Auden Senses, Familiarity, Novelty, Perception, Human Nature“In the end, art is small beer. The really serious things are earning one's living so as not to be a parasite and loving one's neighbor.” W.H. Auden
Art, Priorities, Work Ethic, Love, Social Responsibility
W.H. Auden Art, Priorities, Work Ethic, Love, Social Responsibility“With the farming of a verse Make a vineyard of the curse.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Transformation, Creativity, Metaphor, Redemption
W.H. Auden Poetry, Transformation, Creativity, Metaphor, Redemption