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One can only blaspheme if one believes.
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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Jórvík
Wystan Hugh Auden
Wystan Auden
Wystan H Auden
W. H. Wystan Hugh Auden
Blaspheme
Believes
Believe
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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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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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Now is the age of anxiety.
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Be subtle, various, ornamental, clever, And do not listen to those critics ever Whose crude provincial gullets crave in books Plain cooking made still plainer by plain cooks.
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All sins tend to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is damnation.
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For time is inches And the heart's changes, Where ghost has haunted Lost and wanted.
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To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally.
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I said earlier that I do not believe an artist's life throws much light upon his works. I do believe, however, that, more often than most people realize, his works may throw light upon his life. An artist with certain imaginative ideas in his head may then involve himself in relationships which are congenial to them.
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No hero is mortal till he dies.
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Behind you swiftly the figure comes softly, The spot on your skin is a shocking disease.
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Let me see what I wrote so I know what I think
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The most important truths are likely to be those which society at that time least wants to hear.
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A poet must never make a statement simply because it is sounds poetically exciting he must also believe it to be true.
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Learn from your dreams what you lack.
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There are three cardinal rules - don't take somebody else's boyfriend unless you've been specifically invited to do so, don't take a drink without being asked, and keep a scrupulous accounting in financial matters.
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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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There are not many English novels which deserve to be called great: Parade's End is one of them.
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What we have not named as a symbol escapes our notice.
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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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Nobody knows what the cause is, though some pretend they do it like some hidden assassin waiting to strike at you. Childless women get it, and men when they retire it as if there had to be some outlet for their foiled creative fire.
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