--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human \"nature\" is a nature continually in…" description: "\"“Human \"nature\" is a nature continually in quest of itself, obliged at every moment to transcend what it was a moment before.”\" — W.H. Auden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/w-h-auden-2-7412_adventure_human-nature-is-a-nature-continually-in_86477.jpg" --- # Human "nature" is a nature continually in quest of itself… ![“Human "nature" is a nature continually in quest of itself, obliged at every moment to transcend what it was a moment before.” quote by W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/w-h-auden-2-7412_adventure_human-nature-is-a-nature-continually-in_86477.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/w-h-auden-2-7412_adventure_human-nature-is-a-nature-continually-in_86477.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79b/w-h-auden-2-7412_adventure_human-nature-is-a-nature-continually-in_86477.jpg) > ““Human "nature" is a nature continually in quest of itself, obliged at every moment to transcend what it was a moment before.”” [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature is a self‑refining process, constantly moving beyond its previous state. **In simple terms:** Self‑transcendence Key Takeaway Perpetual growth Themes self‑development philosophy existentialism Mood reflective inspired Type philosophical maxim When to use this quote - personal evolution - cultural shifts Key Concepts identity change Practical Applications - motivational speaking - self‑help literature Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect our goals? - Can we ever be satisfied? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Every moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-moment/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know which side is anybody on any more. I don't really care. 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The moment some thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/the-nature-is-continually-conscious-of-every-withdrawal-from-her-body/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [If we did not take great pains, and were not at great expense to corrupt our nature, our nature would never corrupt us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hyde-1st-earl-of-clarendon/if-we-did-not-take-great-pains-and-were-not-at-great-expense-to/) [Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hyde-1st-earl-of-clarendon/) > [“You can’t walk lonely in nature because nature is full of friends!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/you-can-t-walk-lonely-in-nature-because-nature-is-full-of-friends/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [I don't paint nature. I am nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/i-don-t-paint-nature-i-am-nature/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [I am nature. Nature is me. What I create is what I must create. That I create it is fundamental. I am both anonymous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-shadbolt/i-am-nature-nature-is-me-what-i-create-is-what-i-must-create-that-i/) [Jack Shadbolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-shadbolt/) > [Our nature is the nature of no birth and no death. It is impossible for a cloud to pass from being into nonbeing. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/our-nature-is-the-nature-of-no-birth-and-no-death-it-is-impossible/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“It seems everything in nature that has beauty, also has a price. Let the value of our planets wildlife be to nature and nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-oxton/it-seems-everything-in-nature-that-has-beauty-also-has-a-price-let/) [Paul Oxton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-oxton/) > [We must return to nature and nature's god.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luther-burbank/we-must-return-to-nature-and-nature-s-god/) [Luther Burbank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luther-burbank/) > [The new media are not bridges between man and nature; they are nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-new-media-are-not-bridges-between-man-and-nature-they-are-nature/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [When you walk inside the nature, nature also walks inside you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-inside-the-nature-nature-also-walks-inside-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [The nature of things is to have no nature; it is their non-nature that is their nature. For they have only one nature: no-nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagarjun/the-nature-of-things-is-to-have-no-nature-it-is-their-non-nature-that/) Nagarjun ## More by W.H. Auden > [“Part came from Lane, and part from D.H. Lawrence; Gide, though I didn't know it then, gave part. They taught me to express my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/part-came-from-lane-and-part-from-d-h-lawrence-gide-though-i-didn-t/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“As his wife, Emilia must know Iago better than anybody else. She does not know, any more than the others, that he is malevolent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/as-his-wife-emilia-must-know-iago-better-than-anybody-else-she-does/) [W.H. 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Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“For a desert island, one would choose a good dictionary rather than the greatest literary masterpiece imaginable, for, in relation to its readers, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/for-a-desert-island-one-would-choose-a-good-dictionary-rather-than/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Sorry, my dear, one mustn't be bohemian!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/sorry-my-dear-one-mustn-t-be-bohemian/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Our hunting fathers told the story Of the sadness of the creatures, Pitied the limits and the lack Set in their finished features; Saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/our-hunting-fathers-told-the-story-of-the-sadness-of-the-creatures/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“After Portia has trapped Shylock through his own insistence upon the letter of the law of Contract, she produces another law by which any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/after-portia-has-trapped-shylock-through-his-own-insistence-upon-the/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“Iago’s treatment of Othello conforms to Bacon’s definition of scientific enquiry as putting Nature to the Question. If a member of the audience were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/iago-s-treatment-of-othello-conforms-to-bacon-s-definition-of/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“But round your image there is no fog, and the Earth can still astonish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/but-round-your-image-there-is-no-fog-and-the-earth-can-still-astonish/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) > [“O dear white children casual as birds, Playing among the ruined languages, So small beside their large confusing words, So gay against the greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-2/o-dear-white-children-casual-as-birds-playing-among-the-ruined/) [W.H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) [Explore all 89 W.H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-2/) ## More Adventure quotes > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I painted the words "GREAT ADVENTURE" in Beijing, Dallas, San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Japan. What it means to me is completely different to everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-painted-the-words-great-adventure-in-beijing-dallas-san-francisco/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-supertramp-chris-mccandless/so-many-people-live-within-unhappy-circumstances-and-yet-will-not/) Alexander Supertramp Chris McCandless > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/as-an-adventurer-i-try-to-protect-against-the-downside-i-make-sure-i/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“Love can give you such happiness, then can break the very heart it filled, leaving a hole that can never be fixed or protected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mcleod/love-can-give-you-such-happiness-then-can-break-the-very-heart-it/) Kevin McLeod > [“It always gave Wolf a peculiar thrill thus to tighten his grip upon his stick, thus to wrap himself more closely in his faded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cowper-powys/it-always-gave-wolf-a-peculiar-thrill-thus-to-tighten-his-grip-upon/) [John Cowper Powys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cowper-powys/) > [“It all had to be squeezed and squeezed again, to provide a thrill, to provide enjoyment. 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