If people marry on the assumption that love must always overcome obstacles, they will either become unfaithful or they will make things difficult. The better you know someone, the better you can torture him: man and wife become each other's devils.
W.H. Auden
Marriage, Love, Obstacles, Intimacy, Human Nature
W.H. Auden’s Quotes On Topics
Heroism | Silence | Duality | Deception | Grace | Experience | Human Vulnerability | Fear | Health | Nobility | Revenge | Discernment | Social Values | Virtue | Social Restraints | Religion | Learning | Games | Banality | Knowledge | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“All time spent reading is time well-spent.” W.H. Auden
Reading, Value, Time, Knowledge, Personal Growth
W.H. Auden Reading, Value, Time, Knowledge, Personal Growth“To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself.” W.H. Auden
Prayer, Attention, Selflessness, Spirituality, Focus
W.H. Auden Prayer, Attention, Selflessness, Spirituality, Focus“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“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“You owe it to all of us to get on with what you’re good at.” W.H. Auden
Empowerment, Responsibility, Personal Growth, Talent, Encouragement
W.H. Auden Empowerment, Responsibility, Personal Growth, Talent, Encouragement“The critical opinions of a writer should always be taken with a large grain of salt. For the most part, they are manifestations of his debate with himself as to what he should do next and what he should avoid.” W.H. Auden
Criticism, Writing, Self-reflection, Creative Process, Skepticism
W.H. Auden Criticism, Writing, Self-reflection, Creative Process, Skepticism“Before people complain of the obscurity of modern poetry, they should first examine their consciences and ask themselves with how many people and on how many occasions they have genuinely and profoundly shared some experience with another.” W.H. Auden
Obscurity, Poetry, Human Connection, Self-reflection, Depth
W.H. Auden Obscurity, Poetry, Human Connection, Self-reflection, Depth“Healing is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.” W.H. Auden
Healing, Intuition, Nature, Art, Science
W.H. Auden Healing, Intuition, Nature, Art, Science“Good can imagine Evil; but Evil cannot imagine Good.” W.H. Auden
Good, Evil, Imagination, Morality, Human Nature
W.H. Auden Good, Evil, Imagination, Morality, Human Nature“A dead man who never caused others to die seldom rates a statue.” W.H. Auden
Legacy, Morality, Public Recognition, Death, Historical Commemoration
W.H. Auden Legacy, Morality, Public Recognition, Death, Historical Commemoration“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“Machines are beneficial to the degree that they eliminate the need for labor, harmful to the degree that they eliminate the need for skill.” W.H. Auden
Technology, Labor, Skill, Progress, Societal Impact
W.H. Auden Technology, Labor, Skill, Progress, Societal Impact“Anyone who has a child today should train him to be either a physicist or a ballet dancer. Then he'll escape.” W.H. Auden
Parenting, Career Choices, Escape, Science, Art
W.H. Auden Parenting, Career Choices, Escape, Science, Art“A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us.” W.H. Auden
Reading, Literature, Self-discovery, Interaction, Literary Critique
W.H. Auden Reading, Literature, Self-discovery, Interaction, Literary Critique“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 Education, Academia, Irony, Problem-solving, Intellectual Criticism“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“Desire, even in its wildest tantrums, can neither persuade me it is love nor stop me from wishing it were.” W.H. Auden
Desire, Love, Self-awareness, Emotional Complexity, Wishful Thinking
W.H. Auden Desire, Love, Self-awareness, Emotional Complexity, Wishful Thinking“A professor is someone who talks in someone else’s sleep.” W.H. Auden
Academia, Teaching, Metaphor, Perception, Intellectualism
W.H. Auden Academia, Teaching, Metaphor, Perception, Intellectualism