The way of love is not a subtle argument. The door is open; why are you still standing outside?
W.H. Auden
Love, Opportunity, Hesitation, Directness, Spiritual Invitation
W.H. Auden’s Quotes On Topics
Cognitive Processes | Art Consumption | Sin | Attention | Everyday Objects | Quantity | Exploitation | Human Need | Intellectual Honesty | Drama | Rest | Intellectual Criticism | Self-disclosure | Work | Writing Style | Perspective | Public Behavior | Sensory Experience | Imagery | Construction | More
More W.H. Auden Quotes
“When one looks into the window of a store which sells devotional art objects, one can't help wishing the iconoclasts had won.” W.H. Auden
Religion, Art Criticism, Iconoclasm, Materialism, Cultural Commentary
W.H. Auden Religion, Art Criticism, Iconoclasm, Materialism, Cultural Commentary“A vice in common can be the ground of a friendship but not a virtue in common. X and Y may be friends because they are both drunkards or womanizers but, if they are both sober and chaste, they are friends for some other reason.” W.H. Auden
Friendship, Vice, Virtue, Human Nature, Relationships
W.H. Auden Friendship, Vice, Virtue, Human Nature, Relationships“It's a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.” W.H. Auden
Poetry, Culture, Money, Art Criticism, Artistic Value
W.H. Auden Poetry, Culture, Money, Art Criticism, Artistic Value“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“Every autobiography is concerned with two characters, a Don Quixote, the Ego, and a Sancho Panza, the Self.” W.H. Auden
Autobiography, Ego, Self, Literary Metaphor, Duality
W.H. Auden Autobiography, Ego, Self, Literary Metaphor, Duality“Lust is less a physical need than a way of forgetting time and death.” W.H. Auden
Lust, Mortality, Time, Distraction, Human Nature
W.H. Auden Lust, Mortality, Time, Distraction, Human Nature“One rational voice is dumb: over a grave The household of Impulse mourns one dearly loved. Sad is Eros, builder of cities, And weeping anarchic Aphrodite.” W.H. Auden
Rationality, Grief, Love, Mythology, Human Emotion
W.H. Auden Rationality, Grief, Love, Mythology, Human Emotion“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“An unmanly sort of man whose love life seems to have been largely confined to crying in laps and playing mouse.” W.H. Auden
Masculinity, Love, Criticism, Weakness, Character Assessment
W.H. Auden Masculinity, Love, Criticism, Weakness, Character Assessment“How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.” W.H. Auden
Love, Unrequited Passion, Cosmic Metaphor, Selflessness, Affection
W.H. Auden Love, Unrequited Passion, Cosmic Metaphor, Selflessness, Affection“There is a difference between a villain and one who simply commits a crime. The villain is an extremely conscious person and commits a crim consciously, for its own sake.” W.H. Auden
Villainy, Crime, Consciousness, Morality, Intention
W.H. Auden Villainy, Crime, Consciousness, Morality, Intention“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“One cannot review a bad book without showing off.” W.H. Auden
Criticism, Vanity, Literature, Reviewing, Intellectual Display
W.H. Auden Criticism, Vanity, Literature, Reviewing, Intellectual Display“Weep for the lives your wishes never led.” W.H. Auden
Regret, Unfulfilled Desires, Choices, Mourning, Self-reflection
W.H. Auden Regret, Unfulfilled Desires, Choices, Mourning, Self-reflection“To be happy means to be free, not from pain or fear, but from care or anxiety.” W.H. Auden
Happiness, Freedom, Anxiety, Philosophical Definition, Emotional State
W.H. Auden Happiness, Freedom, Anxiety, Philosophical Definition, Emotional State