H. Auden
H. Auden
love educational philosophy
We must love one another or die
believe poetry sound
A poet must never make a statement simply because it is sounds poetically exciting; he must also believe it to be true.
thinking self people
It is axiomatic that we should all think of ourselves as being more sensitive than other people because, when we are insensitive in our dealings with others, we cannot be aware of it at the time; conscious insensitivity is a self-contradiction.
philosophical listening asking
See without looking, hear without listening, breathe without asking.
trying want aging
If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try.
We are lived by powers we pretend to understand.
ambition men intelligent
Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition.
mother writing language
Language is the mother, not the handmaiden, of thought; words will tell you things you never thought or felt before.
marriage two
To make one, there must be two.
relationship goodness easier
Goodness is easier to recognize than to define.
men choices attention
Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - 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.
children hero history
Political history is far too criminal to be a fit subject of study for the young. Children should acquire their heroes and villians from fiction.
eye writing men
In the eyes of others a man is a poet if he has written one good poem. In his own he is only a poet at the moment when he is making his last revision to a new poem. The moment before, he was still only a potential poet; the moment after, he is a man who has ceased to write poetry, perhaps forever.
love heart affection
If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me.