--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We who must die demand a miracle. How…" description: "\"We who must die demand a miracle. How could the Eternal do a temporal act, The Infinite become a finite fact? Nothing can save us that is possible: We ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/w-h-auden-856_demand_we-who-must-die-demand-a-miracle-how-cou_2893068.jpg" --- # We who must die demand a miracle. How could the Eternal do… ![“We who must die demand a miracle. How could the Eternal do a temporal act, The Infinite become a finite fact? Nothing can save us that is possible: We who must die demand a miracle.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/w-h-auden-856_demand_we-who-must-die-demand-a-miracle-how-cou_2893068.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/w-h-auden-856_demand_we-who-must-die-demand-a-miracle-how-cou_2893068.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/w-h-auden-856_demand_we-who-must-die-demand-a-miracle-how-cou_2893068.jpg) > “We who must die demand a miracle. How could the Eternal do a temporal act, The Infinite become a finite fact? Nothing can save us that is possible: We who must die demand a miracle.” [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. Human mortality confronts the desire for divine intervention, highlighting existential limits **In simple terms:** We seek miracles but face inevitable death Key Takeaway Accept limits, seek meaning within life Themes mortality faith existentialism Mood reflective somber Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - war - personal crisis - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts Theology nihilism humanism Questions to Reflect On - How do you find purpose without miracles? - Can faith replace hope in dire times? 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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 Demand quotes > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. 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