H. Auden
H. Auden
evil tables criminal-mind
Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table.
book thank-god alternatives
Thank God for books as an alternative to conversation.
love passion language-words
A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.
learning israel evil
I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.
art money writing
It is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.
art thinking feelings
Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.
prayer unique class
In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of us is a unique person, with a unique perspective on the world, a member of a class of one.
poetic poet makers
A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.
heaven hell slogans
The slogan of Hell: Eat or be eaten. The slogan of Heaven: Eat and be eaten.
new-year years people
The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears.
art believe simple
All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one by a simple act of will but must wait until what he believes to be a good idea for a work comes to him.
people feelings telling-the-truth
My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.
art born humiliation
Art is born of humiliation.
love lasts enchantment
A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.