--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If it form the one landscape that we the…" description: "\"If it form the one landscape that we the inconstant ones Are consistently homesick for, this is chiefly Because it dissolves in water.\" — W. H. Auden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/w-h-auden-856_afterlife_if-it-form-the-one-landscape-that-we-the_314221.png" --- # If it form the one landscape that we the inconstant ones… ![“If it form the one landscape that we the inconstant ones Are consistently homesick for, this is chiefly Because it dissolves in water.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/w-h-auden-856_afterlife_if-it-form-the-one-landscape-that-we-the_314221.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/w-h-auden-856_afterlife_if-it-form-the-one-landscape-that-we-the_314221.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa4/w-h-auden-856_afterlife_if-it-form-the-one-landscape-that-we-the_314221.png) > “If it form the one landscape that we the inconstant ones Are consistently homesick for, this is chiefly Because it dissolves in water.” [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes a yearning for a constant, unchanging place, yet acknowledges that such stability dissolves like water. **In simple terms:** People long for stability that fades. Key Takeaway Recognize impermanence in seeking permanence. Themes nostalgia impermanence longing Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - home - comfort zones - personal identity Key Concepts existentialism psychology fluidity Questions to Reflect On - What comforts do you cling to? - How do you cope with change? A Different Perspective Stability may be unattainable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [Science has proved that sugar dissolves in water, Thank god u don't take bath, Else I would have lost my sweet love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/move-on07/science-has-proved-that-sugar-dissolves-in-water-thank-god-u-don-t/) Move-on07 > [When I was 12 years old, or however old I was when Bringing It All Back Home came out, I'd just skip back and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-crowell/when-i-was-12-years-old-or-however-old-i-was-when-bringing-it-all/) [Rodney Crowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-crowell/) > [I had spent my whole life feeling homesick. The only difference between the two of us was that I didn't know what or where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/i-had-spent-my-whole-life-feeling-homesick-the-only-difference/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [I do not have any home. So why should I be homesick?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/i-do-not-have-any-home-so-why-should-i-be-homesick/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“Me: I like being outside at night. It gives me this weird feeling, like I'm homesick but not for home. It's kind of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/me-i-like-being-outside-at-night-it-gives-me-this-weird-feeling-like/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [It is a curious emotion, this certain homesickness I have in mind. With Americans, it is a national trait, as native to us as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-mccullers/it-is-a-curious-emotion-this-certain-homesickness-i-have-in-mind-with/) [Carson McCullers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-mccullers/) > [“ It's a world full of terror and beauty (here her writing became so small Meggie could hardly make it out) and I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/it-s-a-world-full-of-terror-and-beauty-here-her-writing-became-so/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Everyday I feel homesick for a place that dosnt exist...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-chable/everyday-i-feel-homesick-for-a-place-that-dosnt-exist/) [Ana Chable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-chable/) > [Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/every-time-we-walk-along-a-beach-some-ancient-urge-disturbs-us-so/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Have you ever been homesick for someplace that doesn't actually exist anymore? Someplace that exists only in your mind?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-lawson/have-you-ever-been-homesick-for-someplace-that-doesn-t-actually-exist/) [Jenny Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-lawson/) > [Russia is the only country of the world you can be homesick for while you're still in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/russia-is-the-only-country-of-the-world-you-can-be-homesick-for-while/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“You remember how homesick I used to get, and what long talks we used to have coming from school? We've someway always felt alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/you-remember-how-homesick-i-used-to-get-and-what-long-talks-we-used/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“The Germans are sentimental. Their word Heimweh . The English say homesick; the same in plain Swedish. Hemsjuk . Leave it to the Germans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/the-germans-are-sentimental-their-word-heimweh-the-english-say/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I'm homesick everywhere I go, but England has a negative effect on my spirit to a profound degree. That trip from Heathrow into London…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-kozelek/i-m-homesick-everywhere-i-go-but-england-has-a-negative-effect-on-my/) [Mark Kozelek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-kozelek/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) ## 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/) [Explore all 344 W. H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## More Afterlife quotes > [I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in a single or multiple godhead. I respect people who do, but I don't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/i-don-t-believe-in-an-afterlife-i-don-t-believe-in-a-single-or/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“There was no attack on religion because people were generally indifferent to religion. They were neither hot nor cold. They were the tepid, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/there-was-no-attack-on-religion-because-people-were-generally/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [I guess on one hand I believe it doesn't matter if there is life after death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morton/i-guess-on-one-hand-i-believe-it-doesn-t-matter-if-there-is-life/) [Joe Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morton/) > [“And what if there are only spiders there, or something of that sort”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-what-if-there-are-only-spiders-there-or-something-of-that-sort/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“The obsession with the afterlife is born of a panic at not having memories of a before-life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-obsession-with-the-afterlife-is-born-of-a-panic-at-not-having/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armond-white/if-critics-and-fanboys-weren-t-suckers-for-simplistic-nihilism-and/) [Armond White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armond-white/) > [“People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn’t bare the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn’t bear the thought of their loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/people-i-thought-wanted-security-they-couldn-t-bare-the-idea-of-death/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/some-people-are-so-stiff-and-inhumane-as-the-dogma-s-they-believe-in/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [Sometimes I think the resurrection of the body, unless much improved in construction, a mistake!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-underhill/sometimes-i-think-the-resurrection-of-the-body-unless-much-improved/) [Evelyn Underhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-underhill/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [“One's past can't be erased, it can only be learned from, the child taught her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-balcomb/one-s-past-can-t-be-erased-it-can-only-be-learned-from-the-child/) [H. L. Balcomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-balcomb/) > [It was like I’d stepped out into an afterlife. Only there were no angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/it-was-like-i-d-stepped-out-into-an-afterlife-only-there-were-no/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [“death is predestined for all mortals. Souls live forever, but the body does not. Unless you are immortal, both the soul and body are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yelle-hughes/death-is-predestined-for-all-mortals-souls-live-forever-but-the-body/) [Yelle Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yelle-hughes/) [Browse all 844 Afterlife quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afterlife/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If it form the one landscape that we the inconstant ones Are consistently homesick for, this is chiefly Because it dissolves in water.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. H. 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