It is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

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.

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...

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....

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...

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...

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....

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

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

A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.

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.

Drama is based on the Mistake. I think someone is my friend when he really...

Drama is based on the Mistake. I think someone is my friend when he really...

Good can imagine Evil; but Evil cannot imagine Good.

Good can imagine Evil; but Evil cannot imagine Good.

All that we are not stares back at what we are.

All that we are not stares back at what we are.

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...

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

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...

Hemingway is terribly limited. His technique is good for short stories, for people who meet...

Hemingway is terribly limited. His technique is good for short stories, for people who meet...

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...

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...

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...