---
title: "1 Craftsmanship Quotes By W. H. Auden"
description: "1 Craftsmanship quotes by W. H. Auden. Plus more from W. H. Auden and more Craftsmanship sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/w-h-auden-856_craftsmanship_the-element-of-craftsmanship-in-poetry-i_1766595.png"
---

> [“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.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-element-of-craftsmanship-in-poetry-is-obscured-by-the-fact-that/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b97/w-h-auden-856_craftsmanship_the-element-of-craftsmanship-in-poetry-i_1766595.png)

## More by W. H. Auden

> [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/why-doesn-t-the-united-states-take-over-the-monarchy-and-unite-with/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/harrow-the-house-of-the-dead-look-shining-at-new-styles-of/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/men-will-pay-large-sums-to-whores-for-telling-them-they-are-not-bores/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-to-whom-evil-is-done-do-evil-in-return/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-and-the-public-know-what-all-schoolchildren-learn-those-to-whom/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/how-happy-the-lot-of-the-mathematician-he-is-judged-solely-by-his/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/perhaps-there-is-only-one-cardinal-sin-impatience-because-of/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-windiest-militant-trash-important-persons-shout-is-not-so-crude/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/time-and-fevers-burn-away-individual-beauty-from-thoughtful-children/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

> [To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-hunt-for-symbols-in-a-fairy-tale-is-absolutely-fatal/)

[W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/)

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