Quotes from W. H. Auden

No hero is mortal till he dies.

The true men of action in our time, those who transform the world, are not the politicians and statesmen, but the scientists

Few can remember clearly when innocence came to a sudden end, the moment at which we ask for the first time: Am I loved?

Time will say nothing but I told you so.

There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair, Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem From insignificance.

For time is inches And the heart's changes, Where ghost has haunted Lost and wanted.

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.

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.

I'll love you till the ocean Is folded and hung up to dry And the seven stars go squawking Like geese about the sky.

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.

Desire, even in its wildest tantrums, can neither persuade me it is love nor stop me from wishing it were.

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.

It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too much. I can see myself doing it. In England, one feels all the social restraints holding one back. But here, anything can happen.

Art is born of humiliation.

The image of myself which I try to create in my own mind in order that I may love myself is very different from the image which I try to create in the minds of others in order that they may love me.

Lay your sleeping head, my love, Human on my faithless arm.

In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be unfaithful to him as often as they like, but he must never, never be unfaithful to them.

Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.

The trees encountered on a country stroll Reveal a lot about that country's soul ... A culture is no better than its woods.

My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.

Love each other or perish.

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

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

Whatever the field under discussion, those who engage in debate must not only believe in each other's good faith, but also in their capacity to arrive at the truth.