Art is born of humiliation.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

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.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

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.

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.

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...

No hero is mortal till he dies.

No hero is mortal till he dies.

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...

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.

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...

A tremendous number of people in America work very hard at something that bores them....

A tremendous number of people in America work very hard at something that bores them....

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

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...

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...

Every autobiography is concerned with two characters, a Don Quixote, the Ego, and a Sancho...

Every autobiography is concerned with two characters, a Don Quixote, the Ego, and a Sancho...

We are not commanded (or forbidden) to love our mates, our children, our friends, our...

We are not commanded (or forbidden) to love our mates, our children, our friends, our...

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,...

Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.

Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.

Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to...

Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to...

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...