Quote

Beloved, we are always in the wrong, Handling so clumsily our stupid lives, Suffering too little or too long, Too careful even in our selfish loves: The decorative manias we obey Die in grimaces round us every day, Yet through their tohu-bohu comes a voice Which utters an absurd command - Rejoice.

W. H. Auden

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W. H. Auden
Age: 66 †
Born: 1907
Born: February 21
Died: 1973
Died: September 28
Author
Composer
Essayist
Librettist
Literary Critic
Literary Historian
Playwright
Poet
Screenwriter
University Teacher
Writer
Jórvík
Wystan Hugh Auden
Wystan Auden
Wystan H Auden
W. H. Wystan Hugh Auden
Comes
Careful
Obey
Littles
Loves
Rejoice
Little
Stupid
Beloved
Clumsily
Even
Dies
Absurd
Grimace
Every
Suffering
Round
Utters
Long
Wrong
Rounds
Decorative
Always
Voice
Selfish
Mania
Lives
Command
Handling

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The primary function of poetry, as of all the arts, is to make us more aware of ourselves and the world around us. I do not know if such increased awareness makes us more moral or more efficient. I hope not. I think it makes us more human, and I am quite certain it makes us more difficult to deceive.
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A shilling life will give you all the facts.
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The relation of faith between subject and object is unique in every case. Hundreds may believe, but each has to believe by himself.
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Had Greek civilization never existed ... we would never have become fully conscious.
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We must love one another or die
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So long as we think of it objectively, time is Fate or Chance, the factor in our lives for which we are not responsible, and about which we can do nothing but when we begin to think of it subjectively, we feel responsible for our time, and the notion of punctuality arises.
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I just try to put the thing out and hope somebody will read it. Someone says: 'Whom do you write for?' I reply: 'Do you read me?' If they say 'Yes,' I say, 'Do you like it?' If they say 'No,' then I say, 'I don't write for you.'
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To me Art's subject is the human clay, / And landscape but a background to a torso / All Cezanne's apples I would give away / For one small Goya or a Daumier.
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Time will say nothing but I told you so, Time only knows the price we have to pay If I could tell you I would let you know.
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My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.
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The element of craftsmanship in poetry is obscured by the fact that all men are taught to speak and most to read and write, while very few men are taught to draw or paint or write music.
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Look if you like, but you will have to leap.
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Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.
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In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.
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Of all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is the easiest for a journalist.
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Few people take an interest in Iceland, but in those few the interest is passionate.
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The stars are dead. The animals will not look: We are left alone with our day, and the time is short, and History to the defeated May say Alas but cannot help nor pardon.
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Choice 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, whatever they may be.
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The words of a dead man are modified in the guts of the living.
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Attacking bad books is not only a waste of time but also bad for the character. If I find a book really bad, the only interest I can derive from writing about it has to come from myself, from such display of intelligence, wit and malice as I can contrive. One cannot review a bad book without showing off.
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