Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so contemptible as the public that buys their books.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: Books Quotes

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 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...

Let mortals beware of words For with words we lie Can speak peace When we...

Let mortals beware of words For with words we lie Can speak peace When we...

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.

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...

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...

Men make the mistake of thinking that because women can't see the sense in violence,...

Men make the mistake of thinking that because women can't see the sense in violence,...

My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.

My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.

We must love one another or die.

We must love one another or die.

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...

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 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.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

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...

May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God...

May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God...

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...

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...

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

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

Murder is always a mistake - one should never do anything one cannot talk about...

Murder is always a mistake - one should never do anything one cannot talk about...

Shotgunning anybody in this room would be the moral equivalent of killing a car, a...

Shotgunning anybody in this room would be the moral equivalent of killing a car, a...