Detective stories have nothing to do with works of art.
W.H. Auden
Detective Fiction, Art, Literary Criticism, Genre Distinction, Value Judgment
W.H. Auden’s Quotes On Topics
Irritations | Complexity | Ownership | Silence | Intellectuals | Life Story | Retribution | Thought | Languages | Heartbreak | Public Knowledge | Theater | Mundanity | Cognitive Processes | Relationships | Movement | Social Gatherings | Everyday Life | Motivation | Social Media | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have not yet developed a significant profile of their own.” W.H. Auden
Childhood, Identity, Development, Masks, Human Nature
W.H. Auden Childhood, Identity, Development, Masks, Human Nature“Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has to take the place of the victim and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness; it is the one crime in which society has a direct interest.” W.H. Auden
Murder, Society, Justice, Forgiveness, Social Responsibility
W.H. Auden Murder, Society, Justice, Forgiveness, Social Responsibility“I don't think the mystical experience can be verbalized. When the ego disappears, so does power over language.” W.H. Auden
Mysticism, Language, Ego, Ineffability, Spiritual Experience
W.H. Auden Mysticism, Language, Ego, Ineffability, Spiritual Experience“My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.” W.H. Auden
Politics, Distrust, Caution, Honesty, Cynicism
W.H. Auden Politics, Distrust, Caution, Honesty, Cynicism“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“In times of trouble, fiction, and only fiction, has offered consolation.” W.H. Auden
Fiction, Comfort, Literature, Emotional Support, Escapism
W.H. Auden Fiction, Comfort, Literature, Emotional Support, Escapism“For love: a poet. For romance: a journalist.” W.H. Auden
Love, Romance, Professions, Writing, Stereotypes
W.H. Auden Love, Romance, Professions, Writing, Stereotypes“There is only one thing necessary: to possess either courage, or kindness, or common sense, or all three, in order to be happy.” W.H. Auden
Happiness, Courage, Kindness, Common Sense, Simplicity
W.H. Auden Happiness, Courage, Kindness, Common Sense, Simplicity“Be subtle, various, ornamental, clever, And do not listen to those critics ever Whose crude provincial gullets crave in books Plain cooking made still plainer by plain cooks.” W.H. Auden
Writing Advice, Criticism, Sophistication, Artistic Complexity, Literary Taste
W.H. Auden Writing Advice, Criticism, Sophistication, Artistic Complexity, Literary Taste“Yet no one hears his own remarks as prose.” W.H. Auden
Self-perception, Communication, Prose, Unconscious Expression, Language
W.H. Auden Self-perception, Communication, Prose, Unconscious Expression, Language“No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the successes of those under him.” W.H. Auden
Leadership, Joy, Success, Empowerment, Selflessness
W.H. Auden Leadership, Joy, Success, Empowerment, Selflessness“Composing mortals with immortal fire.” W.H. Auden
Creativity, Mortality, Art, Inspiration, Poetic Imagery
W.H. Auden Creativity, Mortality, Art, Inspiration, Poetic Imagery“All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one by a simple act of will but must wait until what he believes to be a good idea for a work comes to him.” W.H. Auden
Art, Creativity, Inspiration, Artistic Process, Commissioning
W.H. Auden Art, Creativity, Inspiration, Artistic Process, Commissioning“The glacier knocks in the cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the crack in the teacup opens A lane to the land of the dead.” W.H. Auden
Mortality, Domestic Imagery, Surrealism, Death, Everyday Objects
W.H. Auden Mortality, Domestic Imagery, Surrealism, Death, Everyday Objects“Only he who has taken up the cross of belief is a human being in the full sense of the word.” W.H. Auden
Belief, Humanity, Religion, Identity, Philosophical Statement
W.H. Auden Belief, Humanity, Religion, Identity, Philosophical Statement“All that we are not stares back at what we are.” W.H. Auden
Identity, Self-reflection, Contrast, Human Nature, Perception
W.H. Auden Identity, Self-reflection, Contrast, Human Nature, Perception“Here am I, Here are you: but what does it mean? What are we going to do?” W.H. Auden
Existence, Purpose, Relationships, Uncertainty, Action
W.H. Auden Existence, Purpose, Relationships, Uncertainty, Action