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

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

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

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

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out...

Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out...

May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God...

May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God...

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...

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...

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 class distinctions proper to a democratic society are not those of rank or money,...

The class distinctions proper to a democratic society are not those of rank or money,...

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...

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...

Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so...

Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so...

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.

Music is the best means we have of digesting time.

Music is the best means we have of digesting time.

No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called...

No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called...

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.

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...

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...

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

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.

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...