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.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind.

The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind.

All that we are not stares back at what we are.

All that we are not stares back at what we are.

In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of...

In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of...

Even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot...

Even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot...

Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his...

Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his...

Sob, heavy world Sob as you spin, Mantled in mist Remote from the happy.

Sob, heavy world Sob as you spin, Mantled in mist Remote from the happy.

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me.

If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me.

We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.

We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.

All sins tend to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is damnation.

All sins tend to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is damnation.

A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it...

A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it...

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among...

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among...

The word 'Intellectual' suggests straight away - A man who's untrue to his wife

The word 'Intellectual' suggests straight away - A man who's untrue to his wife

One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

No hero is mortal till he dies.

No hero is mortal till he dies.

You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at.

You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at.

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to...

It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to...

Telling lies does not work in advertising.

Telling lies does not work in advertising.

Telling someone that you're going to bed, when you're actually not and then having to...

Telling someone that you're going to bed, when you're actually not and then having to...

There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power.

There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power.