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W. H. Auden Quotes

1907–1973 England

Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was an Anglo-American poet known for his vast poetic work in many forms on many themes.

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Also known as: Auden, W(ystan) H(ugh), Auden, W. H., Auden, Wystan Hugh, Wystan Hugh Auden

Random W. H. Auden quote

217 quotes

O stern proconsul of intractable provinces,
O poet of the difficult, dear addicted artist.

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

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

Private faces in public places
Are wiser and nicer
Than public faces in private places.

The Orators (1932)

History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

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

Forewords and Afterwords (1973)

At the far end of the enormous room
An orchestra is playing to the rich.

Genealogies are admirable things, provided they do not encourage the curious delusion that some families are older than others.

Forewords and Afterwords (1973)

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

The detective must be either the official representative of the ethical or the exceptional individual who is in a state of grace.

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

When the brokers are roaring like beasts on the floor of the Bourse.

Another Time (1940)

Fame often makes a writer vain, but seldom makes him proud.

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have not yet developed a significant profile of their own.

A Certain World: A Commonplace Book (1970)

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

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

One cannot review a bad book without showing off.

The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

In all technologically "advanced" countries, fashion has replaced tradition, so that involuntary membership in a society can no longer provide a feeling of community.

Forewords and Afterwords (1973)

It's impossible to represent a saint. It becomes boring. Perhaps because he is, like the Saturday Evening Post people, in the position of having almost infinitely free will.

The Table Talk of W. H. Auden (1991)

Earth, receive an honoured guest;
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel lie
Emptied of its poetry.

Another Time (1940)

August for the people and their favourite islands.
Daily the steamers sidle up to meet
The effusive welcome of the pier.

Look, Stranger! (1936) · On This Island (1937)

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Homage to Clio (1960)

Political history is far too criminal and pathological to be a fit subject of study for the young. Children should acquire their heroes and villains from fiction.

A Certain World (1970)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: W. H. Auden (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.