--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My deepest feeling about politicians is…" description: "\"My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png" --- # My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are… ![“My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png) > “My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.” [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. The author warns that politicians are unpredictable and harmful, suggesting we keep distance and only engage with humor, never revealing truth. **In simple terms:** Politicians are dangerous and must be handled cautiously. Key Takeaway Avoid, humor, never fully trust. Themes politics trust communication Mood skeptical wary Type cynical observational When to use this quote - public discourse - personal interactions - media interviews - negotiations Key Concepts cynicism power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide when to humor versus confront? - What are the risks of never telling truth? A Different Perspective Politicians can sometimes act responsibly, making blanket distrust risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deepest feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deepest-feelings/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Telling the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-the-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“When you find yourself caught in a crazy system dreamed up by dangerous lunatics, you just do what you’re told.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/when-you-find-yourself-caught-in-a-crazy-system-dreamed-up-by/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [For me, respect is an extremely important political term. Since I began campaigning, it has been at the heart of each of my speeches.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/for-me-respect-is-an-extremely-important-political-term-since-i-began/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [Advertising men and politicians are dangerous if they are separated. Together they are diabolical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-adams/advertising-men-and-politicians-are-dangerous-if-they-are-separated/) [Phillip Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-adams/) > [She realized for the first time that two people can never reach each others deepest feelings and instincts, that they spend their lives side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/she-realized-for-the-first-time-that-two-people-can-never-reach-each/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [Feeling is the language of the soul. If you want to know what's true for you about something, look to how you're feeling about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/feeling-is-the-language-of-the-soul-if-you-want-to-know-what-s-true/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Babe, just confide in me your deepest feelings, tell me your fantasies, and they shall all be fulfilled. I will do anything it takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/babe-just-confide-in-me-your-deepest-feelings-tell-me-your-fantasies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Falsehood is a critical element in fiction. Part of the thrill of being told a story is the chance of being hoodwinked. . .The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/falsehood-is-a-critical-element-in-fiction-part-of-the-thrill-of/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Love is not measured in the time we spend in showing our feelings but the deepest feelings can arouse even in the shortest little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoheb/love-is-not-measured-in-the-time-we-spend-in-showing-our-feelings-but/) [Zoheb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoheb/) > [It's always difficult to write honestly of one's deepest feelings, particularly without the protective veil of fiction. But the more difficult, the more rewarding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alix-kates-shulman/it-s-always-difficult-to-write-honestly-of-one-s-deepest-feelings/) [Alix Kates Shulman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alix-kates-shulman/) > [“I was in my study writing. I was learning how to go down into myself and salvage bits and pieces of the past. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-was-in-my-study-writing-i-was-learning-how-to-go-down-into-myself/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [One of the deepest feelings you can have is secretly being in love with some and never confessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-feelings-you-can-have-is-secretly-being-in-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I hid my deepest feelings so well I forgot where I placed them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-hid-my-deepest-feelings-so-well-i-forgot-where-i-placed-them/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [I love you more than you will ever know, I love you more than my deepest feelings could ever show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-more-than-you-will-ever-know-i-love-you-more-than-my/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [Anyone who realises what Love is, the dedication of the heart, so profound, so absorbing, so mysterious, so imperative, and always just in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/anyone-who-realises-what-love-is-the-dedication-of-the-heart-so/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## 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 Avoided quotes > [I avoided nudity unless a film couldn't be told without those scenes. If you look at my films, few of them have that element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-scacchi/i-avoided-nudity-unless-a-film-couldn-t-be-told-without-those-scenes/) [Greta Scacchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-scacchi/) > [Among many other weighty objections to the Measure, it has been suggested, that it has a tendency to introduce religious disputes into the Army,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/among-many-other-weighty-objections-to-the-measure-it-has-been/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Poetry in love is no more to be avoided than jealousy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wycherley/poetry-in-love-is-no-more-to-be-avoided-than-jealousy/) [William Wycherley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wycherley/) > [Naive optimism and pervasive pessimism are both to be avoided, therefore. It's not an easy balance to maintain, to be asked to work away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/naive-optimism-and-pervasive-pessimism-are-both-to-be-avoided/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [“war is not so to be avoided, but is only deferred to your disadvantage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/war-is-not-so-to-be-avoided-but-is-only-deferred-to-your-disadvantage/) [Niccolò Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [I read actual physical books and have thus far avoided the electronic lure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-read-actual-physical-books-and-have-thus-far-avoided-the-electronic/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Usually I avoided college students, whom I considered brutal, wrapped up in themselves, particularly in their youth, in which they found material for drama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/usually-i-avoided-college-students-whom-i-considered-brutal-wrapped/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly motivated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/specialness-as-a-primary-mode-of-death-transcendence-takes-a-number/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [I've always avoided publicity. I've never been good copy at any stage of my life. I don't strive for it, because I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-noll/i-ve-always-avoided-publicity-i-ve-never-been-good-copy-at-any-stage/) [Chuck Noll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-noll/) > [“Adversity Isn’t to Be Avoided”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-anthony-smith/adversity-isn-t-to-be-avoided/) [Miles Anthony Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-anthony-smith/) > [If in the words which the Secretary of State has just used, the use of a nuclear weapon is to be avoided 'at all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enoch-powell/if-in-the-words-which-the-secretary-of-state-has-just-used-the-use-of/) [Enoch Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enoch-powell/) > [I've created a narrative of the world. I live in the world - tenuously, most times. I've avoided the digital world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/i-ve-created-a-narrative-of-the-world-i-live-in-the-world-tenuously/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [Against specious appearances we must set clear convictions, bright and ready for use. When death appears as an evil, we ought immediately to remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/against-specious-appearances-we-must-set-clear-convictions-bright-and/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Pound had argued - and Eliot had helped him prove - that a poem could be sustained by memorable moments. Olson proved that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/pound-had-argued-and-eliot-had-helped-him-prove-that-a-poem-could-be/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [Never inject a man into the top, if it can be avoided. In a big organization, to have to do that, I think, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-p-sloan/never-inject-a-man-into-the-top-if-it-can-be-avoided-in-a-big/) [Alfred P. Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-p-sloan/) Browse all 470 Avoided quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. H. Auden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is-that-they-are-dangerous/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Avoided" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is-that-they-are-dangerous/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/w-h-auden-856_avoided_my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is_607729.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and…” — W. H. Auden", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "W. H. Auden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My deepest feeling about politicians is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is-that-they-are-dangerous/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/my-deepest-feeling-about-politicians-is-that-they-are-dangerous/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```