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

Art is born of humiliation.

Art is born of humiliation.

We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here...

We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here...

What people don't realize is that intimacy has its conventions as well as ordinary social...

What people don't realize is that intimacy has its conventions as well as ordinary social...

Murder is commoner among cooks than among members of any other profession.

Murder is commoner among cooks than among members of any other profession.

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

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

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...

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.

Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.

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.

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...

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...

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.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

It is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more...

It is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more...

You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people...

You know there are no secrets in America. It's quite different in England, where people...

Drama is based on the Mistake. I think someone is my friend when he really...

Drama is based on the Mistake. I think someone is my friend when he really...

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.

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

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

Healing, Papa would tell me, is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing...

Healing, Papa would tell me, is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing...