Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the…

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

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...

All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one...

All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one...

When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate...

When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate...

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

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...

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,...

No hero is immortal till he dies

No hero is immortal till he dies

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...

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...

Fame often makes a writer vain, but seldom makes him proud.

Fame often makes a writer vain, but seldom makes him proud.

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...

When I am in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who...

When I am in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who...

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...

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

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

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...

We must love one another or die.

We must love one another or die.

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too...

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too...

And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not...

And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not...

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,...

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,...