Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: Writers Quotes

Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.

Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.

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.

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.

Music can be made anywhere, is invisible and does not smell.

Music can be made anywhere, is invisible and does not smell.

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...

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...

Now is the age of anxiety.

Now is the age of anxiety.

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

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

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...

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.

We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.

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...

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...

The belief that politics can be scientific must inevitably produce tyrannies. Politics cannot be a...

The belief that politics can be scientific must inevitably produce tyrannies. Politics cannot be a...

No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most...

No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most...

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...

Music is the best means we have of digesting time.

Music is the best means we have of digesting time.

Music is always a commentary on society.

Music is always a commentary on society.

Music gives the inspiring, yet intangible beauty, a path of expression, a voice.

Music gives the inspiring, yet intangible beauty, a path of expression, a voice.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he...

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he...