All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one by a simple act of will but must wait until what he believes to be a good idea for a work comes to him.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are...

We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are...

Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.

Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.

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

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

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...

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 can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man...

A poet can write about a man slaying a dragon, but not about a man...

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

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

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

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.

Let us honor if we can the vertical man, though we value none but the...

Let us honor if we can the vertical man, though we value none but the...

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

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

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

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.

My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.

My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

When the Sex War ended with the slaughter of the Grandmothers, / They found a...

When the Sex War ended with the slaughter of the Grandmothers, / They found a...

We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are...

We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are...

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

I'm slowly becoming a convert to the principle that you can't motivate people to do...

I'm slowly becoming a convert to the principle that you can't motivate people to do...

I love all beauteous things, I seek and adore them; God hath no better praise,...

I love all beauteous things, I seek and adore them; God hath no better praise,...

All I really, really want our love to do is to bring out the best...

All I really, really want our love to do is to bring out the best...