In a tragic contradiction between the normal and the exceptional, there is suffering, in a comic contradiction, none.
W.H. Auden
Tragedy, Comedy, Contradiction, Suffering, Normality
W.H. Auden’s Quotes On Topics
Male Adolescence | Public Behavior | Analysis | Spiritual Invitation | Legacy | Imagery | Narcissism | Theological Insight | Cosmic Metaphor | Loneliness | Landscape | Inner Life | Modern Relationships | Industrialization | Ancestral Connection | Negativity | Indirectness | Place | Creative Advice | Exposure | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“Words are for those with promises to keep.” W.H. Auden
Words, Promises, Responsibility, Communication, Commitment
W.H. Auden Words, Promises, Responsibility, Communication, Commitment“I smell blood and an era of prominent madmen.” W.H. Auden
Premonition, Social Criticism, Madness, Leadership, Foreboding
W.H. Auden Premonition, Social Criticism, Madness, Leadership, Foreboding“Say this city has ten million souls, Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes: Yet there's no place for us, my dear, yet there's no place for us.” W.H. Auden
Inequality, Urban Life, Displacement, Love, Social Commentary
W.H. Auden Inequality, Urban Life, Displacement, Love, Social Commentary“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“In headaches and in worry Vaguely life leaks away, And Time will have his fancy To-morrow or today.” W.H. Auden
Life, Worry, Time, Futility, Human Experience
W.H. Auden Life, Worry, Time, Futility, Human Experience“Criticism should be a casual conversation.” W.H. Auden
Criticism, Conversation, Informality, Literary Discourse, Approachability
W.H. Auden Criticism, Conversation, Informality, Literary Discourse, Approachability“We cannot be deaf to the question: 'Do I love this world so well that I have to know how it ends?” W.H. Auden
World, Love, Curiosity, Existential Questions, Environmental Concern
W.H. Auden World, Love, Curiosity, Existential Questions, Environmental Concern“A tremendous number of people in America work very hard at something that bores them. Even a rich man thinks he has to go down to the office everyday. Not because he likes it but because he can't think of anything else to do.” W.H. Auden
Work, Boredom, Wealth, Purpose, American Culture
W.H. Auden Work, Boredom, Wealth, Purpose, American Culture“Money is the necessity that frees us from necessity. Of all novelists in any country, Trollope best understands the role of money. Compared with him even Balzac is a romantic.” W.H. Auden
Money, Freedom, Literature, Realism, Financial Insight
W.H. Auden Money, Freedom, Literature, Realism, Financial Insight“History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.” W.H. Auden
History, Questions, Anthropology, Sociology, Academic Disciplines
W.H. Auden History, Questions, Anthropology, Sociology, Academic Disciplines“May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God has to have faith in us and, considering the history of the human race so far, may it not be that 'faith' is even more difficult for Him than it is for us?” W.H. Auden
Faith, God, Humanity, Difficulty, Reciprocal Trust
W.H. Auden Faith, God, Humanity, Difficulty, Reciprocal Trust“Like love we don't know where or why Like love we cant compel or fly Like Love we often weep Like Love we seldom keep.” W.H. Auden
Love, Mystery, Inability, Sorrow, Impermanence
W.H. Auden Love, Mystery, Inability, Sorrow, Impermanence“What the poet says has never been said before, but, once he has said it, his readers recognize its validity for themselves.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Originality, Recognition, Truth, Reader Connection
W.H. Auden Poetry, Originality, Recognition, Truth, Reader Connection“Man desires to be free and he desires to feel important. This places him in a dilemma, for the more he emancipates himself from necessity the less important he feels.” W.H. Auden
Freedom, Importance, Human Nature, Dilemma, Self-worth
W.H. Auden Freedom, Importance, Human Nature, Dilemma, Self-worth“There are three cardinal rules – don't take somebody else's boyfriend unless you've been specifically invited to do so, don't take a drink without being asked, and keep a scrupulous accounting in financial matters.” W.H. Auden
Etiquette, Relationships, Alcohol, Finance, Social Rules
W.H. Auden Etiquette, Relationships, Alcohol, Finance, Social Rules“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“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“Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his shoulders, that he is a literary aristocracy of one.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Responsibility, American Culture, Individuality, Literary Pressure
W.H. Auden Poetry, Responsibility, American Culture, Individuality, Literary Pressure