We are here on Earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don't know.

Quote by W H Auden

Topics: W H Auden Quotes

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

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.

Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so...

Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so...

Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they...

Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they...

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...

Of all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is...

Of all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is...

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...

He was my North, my South, my East and West.

He was my North, my South, my East and West.

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.

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 center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind.

The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind.

No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called...

No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called...

When the Sex War ended with the slaughter of the Grandmothers, / They found a...

When the Sex War ended with the slaughter of the Grandmothers, / They found a...

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

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

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.

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...

Self-love is the instrument of our preservation.

Self-love is the instrument of our preservation.

It is not empathy I seek. I found what I was looking for... envy me!

It is not empathy I seek. I found what I was looking for... envy me!