451 Quotes by W.H. Auden

A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us.

To the man-in-the-street, who, I’m sorry to say, is a keen observer of life. The word Intellectual suggests straight away. A man who’s untrue to his wife.

The glacier knocks in the cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the crack in the teacup opens A lane to the land of the dead.

To be free is often to be lonely.

The element of craftsmanship in poetry is obscured by the fact that all men are taught to speak and most to read and write, while very few men are taught to draw or paint or write music.

A poor American feels guilty at being poor, but less guilty than an American rentier who has inherited wealth but is doing nothingto increase it; what can the latter do but take to drink and psychoanalysis?

The only reason the Protestants and Catholics have given up the idea of universal domination is because they’ve realised they can’t get away with it.

Doom is dark and deeper than any sea-dingle.

Cats can be very funny, and have the oddest ways of showing they’re glad to see you...