W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

love china africa river mountain salmon street

“I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you

Till China and Africa meet,

And the river jumps over the mountain

And the salmon sing in the street”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

poetry clear expression mixed feelings

“Poetry might be defined as the clear expression of mixed feelings.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

stars wanted moon sun ocean wood

“The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.

For nothing now can ever come to any good.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

love crooked neighbour heart

“You shall love your crooked neighbour, with your crooked heart.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

ruined changed die dread cross moment illusions die

“We would rather be ruined than changed

We would rather die in our dread

Than climb the cross of the moment

And let our illusions die.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

public know schoolchildren learn evil done return

“I and the public know

What all schoolchildren learn,

Those to whom evil is done

Do evil in return.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

mass media popular art entertainment consumed food dish

“What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.”

professor talk sleep

“A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

state exist alone hunger choice love die

“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 (1907-1973)

smell blood era prominent madmen

“I smell blood and an era of prominent madmen.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

sky darkening stain fall like rain flowers

“The sky is darkening like a stain

Something is going to fall like rain

And it won't be flowers”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

stimulus intelligence doubt meaning experience

“The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.”

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

civilization diversity attain unity retain

"Civilizations should be measured by the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

people America work hard boring rich man office think

"A tremendous number of people in America work very hard at something that bores them. Even a rich man thinks he has to go down to the office everyday. Not because he likes it but because he can't think of anything else to do."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

earth help others

"We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

grove massacre ash oak society smash culture woods

"A small grove massacred to the last ash,

An oak with heart-rot, give away the show:

This great society is going to smash;

They cannot fool us with how fast they go,

How much they cost each other and the gods.

A culture is no better than its woods."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

important truth society least want to hear

"The most important truths are likely to be those which society at that time least wants to hear."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

thousands lived without love none water

"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

nobody sent to hell insist

"Nobody is ever sent to Hell: he or she insists on going there."

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

history study questions answers anthropology sociology

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

― W.H. Auden (1907-1973)