--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like everything which is not the…" description: "\"Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/w-h-auden-856_creation_like-everything-which-is-not-the-involun_1380189.png" --- # Like everything which is not the involuntary result of… ![“Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/w-h-auden-856_creation_like-everything-which-is-not-the-involun_1380189.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/w-h-auden-856_creation_like-everything-which-is-not-the-involun_1380189.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/w-h-auden-856_creation_like-everything-which-is-not-the-involun_1380189.png) > “Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate.” [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. Commitment built over time and will offers richer complexity than fleeting passion; lasting bonds require effort and choice. **In simple terms:** Long‑term commitment offers richer complexity than fleeting passion. Key Takeaway Value effortful commitment. Themes relationships time choice Mood thoughtful contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - marriage - long‑term partnerships - friendships - team projects Key Concepts commitment growth Questions to Reflect On - Do you prioritize effort over emotion in relationships? - What does “infinitely more interesting” mean to you? A Different Perspective Romance can be intense but may lack lasting depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Fleeting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fleeting/) [Fleeting Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fleeting-emotion-1180111/) [Infinitely Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infinitely-interesting-1700850/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [Involuntary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/involuntary/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Passionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passionate/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) [Romance Passionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance-passionate-4475831/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-marriage-345911/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [The pleasure of revenge is a fleeting emotion that is soon replaced by the affliction of conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-fesler/the-pleasure-of-revenge-is-a-fleeting-emotion-that-is-soon-replaced/) [Wes Fesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-fesler/) > [A wild appreciation of men and women . . . who passionately and fearlessly and recklessly redefine romance. . . . The passionate creatures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessa-crispin/a-wild-appreciation-of-men-and-women-who-passionately-and-fearlessly/) [Jessa Crispin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessa-crispin/) > [Love is such a fleeting emotion. It's such a small part of the things you do in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-mckay/love-is-such-a-fleeting-emotion-it-s-such-a-small-part-of-the-things/) [Nellie McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-mckay/) > [Love is a fleeting emotion, to reach true nirvana one must know themselves and forsake love, for it breeds contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/love-is-a-fleeting-emotion-to-reach-true-nirvana-one-must-know/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [In New York there is always something to look at, but it is all infinitely more interesting through a window in the backseat of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-godbersen/in-new-york-there-is-always-something-to-look-at-but-it-is-all/) [Anna Godbersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-godbersen/) > [What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their experiments is infinitely more interesting than any results to which their experiments lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/what-most-experimenters-take-for-granted-before-they-begin-their/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) > [I think writing for a world one has invented can be infinitely more interesting than writing for the world we've all inherited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-holmes/i-think-writing-for-a-world-one-has-invented-can-be-infinitely-more/) [Rupert Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-holmes/) > [The world is infinitely more interesting than any of my opinions about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-nixon/the-world-is-infinitely-more-interesting-than-any-of-my-opinions/) [Nicholas Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-nixon/) > [Since God is infinite he should be infinitely interesting as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-godfrey/since-god-is-infinite-he-should-be-infinitely-interesting-as-well/) [Robert Godfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-godfrey/) > [The best time for marriage will be towards thirty, for as the younger times are unfit, either to choose or to govern a wife…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-raleigh/the-best-time-for-marriage-will-be-towards-thirty-for-as-the-younger/) [Walter Raleigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-raleigh/) > [It is important to give your kids that individualized attention while also making time for your marriage and for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busy-philipps/it-is-important-to-give-your-kids-that-individualized-attention-while/) [Busy Philipps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busy-philipps/) > [Marriage is memory, marriage is time. Marriage is not only time: it is also, parodoxically, the denial of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/marriage-is-memory-marriage-is-time-marriage-is-not-only-time-it-is/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Over time, our marriage has faded, like a vibrant painting left in strong sunlight for too many years. Time has slipped through our fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-l-slater/over-time-our-marriage-has-faded-like-a-vibrant-painting-left-in/) [K.L. Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-l-slater/) > [For the longest time, marriage has had a guilty conscience about itself. Should we believe it?--Yes, we should believe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/for-the-longest-time-marriage-has-had-a-guilty-conscience-about/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [ “For \[erotically intelligent couples\], love is a vessel that contains both security and adventure, and commitment offers one of the great luxuries of life:… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/for-erotically-intelligent-couples-love-is-a-vessel-that-contains/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) ## 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 Creation quotes > [“am not suggesting that successes in academics, athletics, or vocation somehow stand outside God’s good plan. Learning and play are joys that God himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-paul-jones/am-not-suggesting-that-successes-in-academics-athletics-or-vocation/) [Timothy Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-paul-jones/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [I believe if there is a creator it will basically ask me two questions, how well did you enjoy my creation and what did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-believe-if-there-is-a-creator-it-will-basically-ask-me-two/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [With no other choices open to us, we'd turned our gaze seaward. The oceans were our America: they reached farther than any prairie, untamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carsten-jensen/with-no-other-choices-open-to-us-we-d-turned-our-gaze-seaward-the/) [Carsten Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carsten-jensen/) > [In the quiet moments of your day, what do you think and do? When you are with your Self and no one else, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/in-the-quiet-moments-of-your-day-what-do-you-think-and-do-when-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The creation lives as genesis beneath the visible surface of the work. All intelligent people see this after the fact, but only the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-creation-lives-as-genesis-beneath-the-visible-surface-of-the-work/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-are-trying-to-live-a-life-in-accordance-with-the-bible-the/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-think-that-storytelling-and-creation-are-very-close-to-what-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [To be part of the creation, I must act humbly. I'll take that over a goddess any day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-o-hara/to-be-part-of-the-creation-i-must-act-humbly-i-ll-take-that-over-a/) [Maureen O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-o-hara/) > [The country of Iraq is somewhat of an artificial creation going back to colonial days. And so you have the Kurds and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clapper/the-country-of-iraq-is-somewhat-of-an-artificial-creation-going-back/) [James Clapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clapper/) [Browse all 5,225 Creation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. H. 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