W.H. Auden’s Quotes On Topics
Personal Boundaries | Animal Metaphor | Public Behavior | Modern Relationships | Prosody | Average Person | Ineffability | Societal Expectations | Empathy | Personal Experience | Opera | Profession | Literary Biography | Obstacles | Bureaucracy | Romance | Rules | Paradise | Unity | Artistic Essence | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“The older lives like not to be stood in rows or at right angles.”
W.H. Auden
Aging, Conformity, Individuality, Rebellion, Metaphor
W.H. Auden Aging, Conformity, Individuality, Rebellion, Metaphor“The theater has never been any good since the actors became gentlemen.” W.H. Auden
Theater, Acting, Social Class, Artistic Decline, Cultural Criticism
W.H. Auden Theater, Acting, Social Class, Artistic Decline, Cultural Criticism“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“One can only blaspheme if one believes.” W.H. Auden
Belief, Blasphemy, Faith, Contradiction, Religious Insight
W.H. Auden Belief, Blasphemy, Faith, Contradiction, Religious Insight“The only reason the Protestants and Catholics have given up the idea of universal domination is because they've realised they can't get away with it.” W.H. Auden
Religion, Power, Realism, Historical Perspective, Cynicism
W.H. Auden Religion, Power, Realism, Historical Perspective, Cynicism“If a writer is not afraid of dying of exposure, he is an idiot.” W.H. Auden
Writing, Risk, Exposure, Bravery, Artistic Integrity
W.H. Auden Writing, Risk, Exposure, Bravery, Artistic Integrity“To my generation no other English poet seemed so perfectly to express the sensibility of a male adolescent. If I do not now turn to him very often, I am eternally grateful to him for the joy he gave me in my youth.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Nostalgia, Male Adolescence, Gratitude, Literary Influence
W.H. Auden Poetry, Nostalgia, Male Adolescence, Gratitude, Literary Influence“Shall memory restore The steps and the shore, The face and the meeting place;.” W.H. Auden
Memory, Restoration, Place, Relationships, Nostalgia
W.H. Auden Memory, Restoration, Place, Relationships, Nostalgia“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“A man has his distinctive personal scent which his wife, his children and his dog can recognize. A crowd has a generalized stink. The public is odorless.” W.H. Auden
Individuality, Crowds, Perception, Human Senses, Social Commentary
W.H. Auden Individuality, Crowds, Perception, Human Senses, Social Commentary“If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me.” W.H. Auden
Love, Inequality, Selflessness, Relationships, Emotional Generosity
W.H. Auden Love, Inequality, Selflessness, Relationships, Emotional Generosity“Most people call something profound, not because it is near some important truth but because it is distant from ordinary life. Thus, darkness is profound to the eye, silence to the ear; what-is-not is the profundity of what-is.” W.H. Auden
Profundity, Perception, Truth, Ordinary Life, Philosophical Insight
W.H. Auden Profundity, Perception, Truth, Ordinary Life, Philosophical Insight“The dead look so terribly dead when they're dead.” W.H. Auden
Death, Mortality, Observation, Finality, Human Perception
W.H. Auden Death, Mortality, Observation, Finality, Human Perception“A craftsman knows in advance what the finished result will be, while the artist knows only what it will be when he has finished it.” W.H. Auden
Craftsmanship, Art, Process, Creativity, Expectation
W.H. Auden Craftsmanship, Art, Process, Creativity, Expectation“The primary theme of literature is that of loneliness — that every human being is unique and alone.” W.H. Auden
Literature, Loneliness, Individuality, Human Condition, Artistic Themes
W.H. Auden Literature, Loneliness, Individuality, Human Condition, Artistic Themes“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“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 Detective Fiction, Art, Literary Criticism, Genre Distinction, Value Judgment“Money cannot buy the fuel of love but is excellent kindling.” W.H. Auden
Love, Money, Relationships, Metaphor, Materialism
W.H. Auden Love, Money, Relationships, Metaphor, Materialism