Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

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...

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...

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...

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...

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Before people complain of the obscurity of modern poetry, they should first examine their consciences...

Before people complain of the obscurity of modern poetry, they should first examine their consciences...

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.

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...

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

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

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

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...

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...

A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it...

A verbal art like poetry is reflective; it stops to think. Music is immediate, it...

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...

No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are...

No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are...

I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street Uncertain and afraid As the...

I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-Second Street Uncertain and afraid As the...

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.

Geniuses are the luckiest of mortals because what they must do is the same as...

Geniuses are the luckiest of mortals because what they must do is the same as...

If there be anything that can be called genius, it consists chiefly in ability to...

If there be anything that can be called genius, it consists chiefly in ability to...

Genius is born, not paid.

Genius is born, not paid.