Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W. H. Auden Quotes

Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has...

Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has...

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

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

Of all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is...

Of all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is...

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...

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...

No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are...

No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are...

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too...

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too...

The image of myself which I try to create in my own mind in order...

The image of myself which I try to create in my own mind in order...

He was my North, my South, my East and West.

He was my North, my South, my East and West.

A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us.

A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us.

Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual...

Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual...

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...

Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.

Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.

In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be...

In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be...

History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology...

History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology...

Now is the age of anxiety.

Now is the age of anxiety.

I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street Uncertain and afraid As the...

I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street Uncertain and afraid As the...

I know nothing, except what everyone knows if there when Graces dances, I should dance.

I know nothing, except what everyone knows if there when Graces dances, I should dance.

He makes a swan-like end, fading in music.

He makes a swan-like end, fading in music.

Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it...

Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it...

It is a rare and difficult attainment to grow old gracefully and happily.

It is a rare and difficult attainment to grow old gracefully and happily.

Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to...

Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to...