---
title: "1 Auden Quotes By Ian Mortimer"
description: "1 Auden quotes by Ian Mortimer. Plus more from Ian Mortimer and more Auden sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96d/ian-mortimer-31335_archives_w-h-auden-once-suggested-that-to-underst_712699.jpg"
---

> [W. H. Auden once suggested that to understand your own country you need to have lived in at least two others. One can say something similar for periods of time: to understand your own century you need to have come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/w-h-auden-once-suggested-that-to-understand-your-own-country-you-need/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96d/ian-mortimer-31335_archives_w-h-auden-once-suggested-that-to-underst_712699.jpg)

## More by Ian Mortimer

> [“You might be offered oatcakes as well as bread (especially in the north). If these do not tempt you, consider eating "horse-bread." This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/you-might-be-offered-oatcakes-as-well-as-bread-especially-in-the/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [W. H. Auden once suggested that to understand your own country you need to have lived in at least two others. One can say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/w-h-auden-once-suggested-that-to-understand-your-own-country-you-need/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“You might find it alarming to think that your doctor will not actually need to see you in person but might make a diagnosis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/you-might-find-it-alarming-to-think-that-your-doctor-will-not/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“the commons put forward an exceedingly detailed and comprehensive petition regarding the labour system. It resulted in the statute which made communities responsible for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/the-commons-put-forward-an-exceedingly-detailed-and-comprehensive/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“The last day I was here, in eighteen forty-three, was the only time since the plague when we were not at war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/the-last-day-i-was-here-in-eighteen-forty-three-was-the-only-time/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [Justice is a relative concept in all ages. The fourteenth century is no exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/justice-is-a-relative-concept-in-all-ages-the-fourteenth-century-is/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“There's so much beauty in the world, don't close your eyes to it just because you've lost your own small patch of happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/there-s-so-much-beauty-in-the-world-don-t-close-your-eyes-to-it-just/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“As a result of the Archery Act of 1542… Every man must shoot at the butts on every holy day, and parishes are to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/as-a-result-of-the-archery-act-of-1542-every-man-must-shoot-at-the/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“In Elizabethan England you will only find small codpieces. Large ones, stuffed with wool and looking like an erect male member, are out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/in-elizabethan-england-you-will-only-find-small-codpieces-large-ones/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“As soon as Gaveston and Edward met they became great friends. Gaveston was witty, rude and enormously entertaining, with a Gascon accent and moreover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/as-soon-as-gaveston-and-edward-met-they-became-great-friends-gaveston/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“So much dung, filth, and entrails of dead beasts and other corruptions is cast into ditches, rivers and other waterways, and many other places,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/so-much-dung-filth-and-entrails-of-dead-beasts-and-other-corruptions/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“In parts of the country you will come across superstitious practices, such as lowering a infant with whooping cough into a cesspit and holding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/in-parts-of-the-country-you-will-come-across-superstitious-practices/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“While the traditional image of knights in armour is accurate and widely accepted, the equally representative image of knights wearing corsets and suspender belts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/while-the-traditional-image-of-knights-in-armour-is-accurate-and/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [“If we wish to understand our own place on earth, we must seek to understand those who have gone on before us. We must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/if-we-wish-to-understand-our-own-place-on-earth-we-must-seek-to/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

> [Our view of history diminishes the reality of the past. We concentrate on the historic event as something that has happened, and in so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/our-view-of-history-diminishes-the-reality-of-the-past-we-concentrate/)

[Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/)

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