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’s Quotes On Topics
Questioning | Distraction | Reciprocal Trust | Error | Discrimination | Loss | Insight | Nostalgia | Historical Perspective | Mindset | Academia | Understanding Others | Self-discovery | Growth | Celebration | Conformity | Murder | Human Connection | Theology | Ideas | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“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“Fate succumbs many a species: one alone jeopardises itself.” W.H. Auden
Fate, Humanity, Self-destruction, Uniqueness, Responsibility
W.H. Auden Fate, Humanity, Self-destruction, Uniqueness, Responsibility“Ideally, government is the means by which all the individual wills are assured complete freedom of moral choice and at the same time prevented from ever clashing.” W.H. Auden
Government, Freedom, Morality, Social Harmony, Political Idealism
W.H. Auden Government, Freedom, Morality, Social Harmony, Political Idealism“My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.” W.H. Auden
Self-deprecation, Aging, Metaphor, Appearance, Humor
W.H. Auden Self-deprecation, Aging, Metaphor, Appearance, Humor“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“For the error bred in the bone of each woman and each man craves what it cannot have, not universal love but to be loved alone.” W.H. Auden
Human Nature, Desire, Love, Individuality, Universal Condition
W.H. Auden Human Nature, Desire, Love, Individuality, Universal Condition“Goodness is easier to recognize than to define.” W.H. Auden
Goodness, Recognition, Definition, Morality, Human Perception
W.H. Auden Goodness, Recognition, Definition, Morality, Human Perception“If there are any souls in hell, it is because that is where they insist on being.” W.H. Auden
Hell, Free Will, Damnation, Choice, Theological Insight
W.H. Auden Hell, Free Will, Damnation, Choice, Theological Insight“No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called Games.” W.H. Auden
Innocence, Morality, Human Nature, Games, Ethical Inquiry
W.H. Auden Innocence, Morality, Human Nature, Games, Ethical Inquiry“To choose what is difficult all one's days, as if it were easy, that is faith.” W.H. Auden
Faith, Difficulty, Choice, Perseverance, Life Philosophy
W.H. Auden Faith, Difficulty, Choice, Perseverance, Life Philosophy“One of the troubles of our times is that we are all, I think, precocious as personalities and backward as characters.” W.H. Auden
Character, Personality, Societal Issues, Youth, Development
W.H. Auden Character, Personality, Societal Issues, Youth, Development“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“I am not in favor of Facebook friends who make Facebook enemies for me.” W.H. Auden
Social Media, Friendship, Conflict, Boundaries, Modern Relationships
W.H. Auden Social Media, Friendship, Conflict, Boundaries, Modern Relationships“The friends who met here and embraced are gone, Each to his own mistake;.” W.H. Auden
Friendship, Separation, Mistakes, Individual Paths, Transience
W.H. Auden Friendship, Separation, Mistakes, Individual Paths, Transience“Cathedrals, luxury liners laden with souls, Holding to the east their hulls of stone.” W.H. Auden
Architecture, Spirituality, Metaphor, Human Cargo, Religion
W.H. Auden Architecture, Spirituality, Metaphor, Human Cargo, Religion“Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so contemptible as the public that buys their books.” W.H. Auden
Literary Criticism, Confessional Writing, Public Consumption, Contempt, Hypocrisy
W.H. Auden Literary Criticism, Confessional Writing, Public Consumption, Contempt, Hypocrisy“The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again.” W.H. Auden
Suffering, Repetition, Pain, Mismanagement, Inevitability
W.H. Auden Suffering, Repetition, Pain, Mismanagement, Inevitability“You shall love your crooked neighbour, with your crooked heart.” W.H. Auden
Love, Imperfection, Humanity, Acceptance, Moral Complexity
W.H. Auden Love, Imperfection, Humanity, Acceptance, Moral Complexity