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The condition of mankind is, and always has been, so miserable and depraved that, if anyone were to say to the poet: For God's sake stop singing and do something useful like putting on the kettle or fetching bandages, what just reason could he give for refusing?

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
Stop
Miserable
Anyone
Condition
Fetching
Give
Putting
Kettle
Reason
Sake
Bandages
Giving
Singing
Kettles
Something
Poet
Depraved
Always
Mankind
Refusing
Like
Conditions
Useful

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It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to know in what direction to point that organ.
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And make us as Newton was, who in his garden watching The apple falling towards England, became aware Between himself and her of an eternal tie.
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The parlour cars and Pullmans are packed also with scented assassins, salad-eaters who murder on milk.
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Let all your thinks be thanks.
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A dead man who never caused others to die seldom rates a statue.
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Does God judge us by appearances? I Suspect that He does.
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Those who will not reason, perish in the act. Those who will not act, perish for that reason.
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Love each other or perish.
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There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police We must love one another or die.
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To be free is often to be lonely.
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I see little hope for a peaceful world until men are excluded from the realm of foreign policy altogether and all decisions concerning international relations are reserved for women, preferably married ones.
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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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Whatever the field under discussion, those who engage in debate must not only believe in each other's good faith, but also in their capacity to arrive at the truth.
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Oh, how I wish that Orwell were still alive, so that I could read his comments on contemporary events!
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See without looking, hear without listening, breathe without asking.
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Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone. Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
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You will be a poet because you will always be humiliated.
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Slavery is so intolerable a condition that the slave can hardly escape deluding himself into thinking that he is choosing to obey his master's commands when, in fact, he is obliged to. Most slaves of habit suffer from this delusion and so do some writers, enslaved by an all too personal style.
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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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Get up very early and get going at once. In fact, work first and wash afterwards.
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