01c. 1920 ADCathedrals Luxury liners laden with souls Holding to the east their hulls of stone.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
02c. 1920 ADLet us humour if we can The vertical man Though we value none But the horizontal one.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
03c. 1920 ADChoice of attention to pay attention to this and ignore that is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
04c. 1920 ADChoice of attention ... is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences whatever they may be.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
05c. 1920 ADWhat the mass media offer is not popular art but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food forgotten and replaced by a new dish.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
06c. 1920 ADThe relation of faith between subject and object is unique in every case. Hundreds may believe but each has to believe by himself.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
07c. 1920 ADGeniuses are the luckiest of mortals because what they must do is the same as what they most want to do.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
09c. 1920 ADWe are all here on earth to help others what on earth the others are here for I don't know.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
10c. 1920 ADIt is nonsense to speak of 'higher' and 'lower' pleasures. To a hungry man it is rightly more important that he eat than that he philosophize.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
11c. 1920 ADTo be happy means to be free not from pain or fear but from care or anxiety.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
12c. 1920 ADMan is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
13c. 1920 ADAlmost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual exploitation a mental or physical barter to be terminated when one or both parties run out of goods.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
14c. 1920 ADAny marriage happy or unhappy is infinitely more interesting and significant than any romance however passionate.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
15c. 1920 ADMy poetry doesn't change from place to place - it changes with the years. It's very important to be one's age. You get ideas you have to turn down - 'I'm sorry no longer' 'I'm sorry not yet.'W.H. Auden / quote ↗
16c. 1920 ADThe 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 / quote ↗
17c. 1920 ADNobody can honestly think of himself as a strong character because however successful he may be in overcoming them he is necessarily aware of the doubts and temptations that accompany every important choice.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
18c. 1920 ADChoice of attention-to pay attention to this and ignore that-is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
19c. 1920 ADAbout suffering they were never wrong The Old Masters How well they understood Its human position how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
21c. 1920 ADIt is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practising it.W.H. Auden / quote ↗
24c. 1920 AD'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'W.H. Auden / quote ↗
