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

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.

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

Health is the state about which medicine has nothing to say

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

We must love one another or die.

We must love one another or die.

Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own...

Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own...

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...

You must go to bed with friends or whores, where money makes up the difference...

You must go to bed with friends or whores, where money makes up the difference...

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

If time were the wicked sheriff in a horse opera, I'd pay for riding lessons...

If time were the wicked sheriff in a horse opera, I'd pay for riding lessons...

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

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

Art is born of humiliation.

Art is born of humiliation.

Music is the best means we have of digesting time.

Music is the best means we have of digesting time.

Jazz is the folk music of the machine age

Jazz is the folk music of the machine age

Rock and roll music - the music of freedom frightens people and unleashes all manner...

Rock and roll music - the music of freedom frightens people and unleashes all manner...

I wish I was a rapper. There are certainly times when I wish I could...

I wish I was a rapper. There are certainly times when I wish I could...