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In the end, art is small beer. The really serious things are earning one's living so as not to be a parasite and loving one's neighbor.
W. H. Auden
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W. H. Auden
Age: 66 †
Born: 1907
Born: February 21
Died: 1973
Died: September 28
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Wystan Hugh Auden
Wystan Auden
Wystan H Auden
W. H. Wystan Hugh Auden
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More quotes by W. H. Auden
I think the first prerequisite to civilization is an ability to make polite conversation.
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A man is a form of life that dreams in order to act and acts in order to dream.
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The poet marries the language, and out of this marriage the poem is born.
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Alone, alone, about the dreadful wood / Of conscious evil runs a lost mankind, / Dreading to find its Father.
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No hero is mortal till he dies.
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God may reduce you on Judgment Day to tears of shame, reciting by heart the poems you would have written, had your life been good.
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Dogmatic theological statements are neither logical propositions nor poetic utterances. They are ''shaggy dog'' stories they have a point, but he who tries too hard to get it will miss it.
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Man is a history-making creature, who can neither repeat his past, nor leave it behind.
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A craftsman knows in advance what the finished result will be, while the artist knows only what it will be when he has finished it.
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There are good books which are only for adults. There are no good books which are only for children.
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Without communication with the dead, a fully human life is not possible.
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See without looking, hear without listening, breathe without asking.
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In a game, just losing is almost as satisfying as just winning... In life the loser's score is always zero.
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No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called Games.
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Defenceless under the night Our world in stupor lies Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame.
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A poor American feels guilty at being poor, but less guilty than an American rentier who has inherited wealth but is doing nothingto increase it what can the latter do but take to drink and psychoanalysis?
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I don't get acting jobs because of my looks.
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The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears.
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We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.
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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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