But once in a while the odd thing happens W. H. Auden More Quotes by W. H. Auden More Quotes From W. H. Auden Thou shalt not answer questionnaires Or quizzes upon world affairs, Nor with compliance Take any test. Thou shalt not sit with statisticians nor commit A social science. W. H. Auden testsanswersmath No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted. W. H. Auden writinglifebelieve If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try. W. H. Auden wantsuccesstrying In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of us is a unique person, with a unique perspective on the world, a member of a class of one. W. H. Auden uniqueprayerclass The slogan of Hell: Eat or be eaten. The slogan of Heaven: Eat and be eaten. W. H. Auden sloganshellheaven A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime. W. H. Auden enchantmentlastslove One cannot review a bad book without showing off. W. H. Auden reviewscriticismbook In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag. W. H. Auden dogtailsjoy The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in. W. H. Auden fairytaleangelway We must love one another or die W. H. Auden educationallovephilosophy Proper names are poetry in the raw. W. H. Auden nicknamesnames A daydream is a meal at which images are eaten. Some of us are gourmets, some gourmands, and a good many take their images precooked out of a can and swallow them down whole, absent-mindedly and with little relish. W. H. Auden dreaminspirationallove All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie, the romantic lie in the brain of the sensual man-in-the-street and the lie of Authority whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State and no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice to the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die. W. H. Auden being-happymenlying A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language. W. H. Auden language-wordspassionlove All wishes, whatever their apparent content, have the same and unvarying meaning: "I refuse to be what I am." W. H. Auden refusewish If music in general is an imitation of history, opera in particular is an imitation of human willfulness; it is rooted in the fact that we not only have feelings but insist upon having them at whatever cost to ourselves. The quality common to all the great operatic roles, e.g., Don Giovanni, Norma, Lucia, Tristan, Isolde, Br?nnhilde, is that each of them is a passionate and willful state of being. In real life they would all be bores, even Don Giovanni. W. H. Auden qualityrealfeelings Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading. W. H. Auden beautifullovefall A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us. W. H. Auden realreadingbook Now is the age of anxiety. W. H. Auden anxietyagebirthday To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally. W. H. Auden translatereadertwo
