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Every high C accurately struck demolishes the theory that we are the irresponsible puppets of fate or chance.

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
Struck
Fate
Theory
High
Chance
Demolish
Every
Accurately
Puppets
Irresponsible

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It's impossible to represent a saint [in Art]. It becomes boring. Perhaps because he is, like the Saturday Evening Post people, inthe position of having almost infinitely free will.
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When I am in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a drawing room full of dukes.
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If the most significant characteristic of man is the complex of biological needs he shares with all members of his species, then the best lives for the writer to observe are those in which the role of natural necessity is clearest, namely, the lives of the very poor.
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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.
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All that we are not stares back at what we are.
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A dead man who never caused others to die seldom rates a statue.
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Few people take an interest in Iceland, but in those few the interest is passionate.
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I smell blood and an era of prominent madmen.
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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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My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.
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A verbal art like poetry is reflective it stops to think. Music is immediate, it goes on to become.
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In a land which is fully settled, most men must accept their local environment or try to change it by political means only the exceptionally gifted or adventurous can leave to seek his fortune elsewhere. In America, on the other hand, to move on and make a fresh start somewhere else is still the normal reaction to dissatisfaction and failure.
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Even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot Where the dogs go on with their doggy life
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Harrow the house of the dead look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.
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The critical opinions of a writer should always be taken with a large grain of salt. For the most part, they are manifestations of his debate with himself as to what he should do next and what he should avoid.
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History marched to the drums of a clear idea...
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Thank God for books as an alternative to conversation.
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Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.
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Human beings are, necessarily, actors who...can be divided...into the sane who know they are acting and the mad who do not.
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About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters.
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