A poet can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man pushing a button that releases a bomb.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

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.

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...

The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have...

The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have...

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.

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

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.

God bless the USA, so large, so friendly, and so rich.

God bless the USA, so large, so friendly, and so rich.

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.

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...

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

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

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...

A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

You must go to bed with friends or whores, where money makes up the difference...

You must go to bed with friends or whores, where money makes up the difference...

We must love one another or die.

We must love one another or die.

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.

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...

A professor is someone who talks in someone else's sleep.

A professor is someone who talks in someone else's sleep.

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...

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.