Believe Quotes by W. H. Auden

10 Believe quotes by W. H. Auden

Auden’s ten brief lines on belief capture his poetic cadence, offering a quick, nuanced glimpse into his contemplative mind.

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One can only blaspheme if one believes.

W. H. Auden

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The relation of faith between subject and object is unique in every case. Hundreds may believe, but each has to believe by…

W. H. Auden

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A poet must never make a statement simply because it is sounds poetically exciting; he must also believe it to be true.

W. H. Auden

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No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only…

W. H. Auden

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Whatever the field under discussion, those who engage in debate must not only believe in each other's good faith, but also in…

W. H. Auden

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In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be unfaithful to him as often as they…

W. H. Auden

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If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to…

W. H. Auden

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God is Love, we are taught as children to believe. But when we first begin to get some inkling of how He…

W. H. Auden

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I said earlier that I do not believe an artist's life throws much light upon his works. I do believe, however, that,…

W. H. Auden

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Christ did not enchant men; He demanded that they believe in Him: except on one occasion, the Transfiguration. For a brief while,…

W. H. Auden

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More by W. H. Auden

Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.

W. H. Auden

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Why doesn't the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the…

W. H. Auden

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The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.

W. H. Auden

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Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.

W. H. Auden

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Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…

W. H. Auden

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Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.

W. H. Auden

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If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It…

W. H. Auden

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“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”

W. H. Auden

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I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.

W. H. Auden

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One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.

W. H. Auden

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How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…

W. H. Auden

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Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.

W. H. Auden

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The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…

W. H. Auden

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Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral

W. H. Auden

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To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.

W. H. Auden

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