Quotes by W. H. Auden

“I may not be there yet, but Im closer than I was yesterday.”

“Let mortals beware of wordsFor with words we lieCan speak peaceWhen we mean warBut song is trueLet music for peaceBe the paradigmFor peace means changeAt the right time”

“And its whispered that soon if we all call a tune, then the Piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter. Does anybody remember laughter?”

Some books are undeservedly forgotten none are undeservedly remembered.

Cathedrals Luxury liners laden with souls Holding to the east their hulls of stone.

Let us humour if we can The vertical man Though we value none But the horizontal one.

Choice of attention to pay attention to this and ignore that is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer.

Choice of attention ... 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.

What the mass media offer is not popular art but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food forgotten and replaced by a new dish.

The relation of faith between subject and object is unique in every case. Hundreds may believe but each has to believe by himself.

Geniuses are the luckiest of mortals because what they must do is the same as what they most want to do.

If we really want to live wed better start at once to try.

We are all here on earth to help others what on earth the others are here for I dont know.

It is nonsense to speak of higher and lower pleasures. To a hungry man it is rightly more important that he eat than that he philosophize.

To be happy means to be free not from pain or fear but from care or anxiety.

Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.

Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual exploitation a mental or physical barter to be terminated when one or both parties run out of goods.

Among those whom I like or admire I can find no common denominator but among those whom I love I can: all of them make me laugh.

Any marriage happy or unhappy is infinitely more interesting and significant than any romance however passionate.

My poetry doesnt change from place to place - it changes with the years. Its very important to be ones age. You get ideas you have to turn down - Im sorry no longer Im sorry not yet.