W. H. Auden Quotes

It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful.

W. H. Auden

• Society
• Past

• Previous
• Next

Quotes to Explore

• The best relationship is one that does not foster too much independence nor too much dependence, but exists in the healthy interdependence zone.

  

  Karen Salmansohn
  • Relationship
  • Best
  • Healthy

• The difference between Amazon and us is Amazon is more like an empire - everything they control themselves, buy and sell.

  

  Jack Ma
  • Control
  • Like
  • Difference

• Sometimes I play cricket, and I play badminton.

  

  Malala Yousafzai
  • Play
  • Sometimes
  • Cricket

• I was in a really crummy pop-punk band. I think we did a whole bunch of Blink-182 covers, and we were on the fringe of losers and jocks. So we invited all the cool kids to come watch us play in our bass player's brother's bedroom. And it was terrible, but everyone thought we were so cool.

  

  Nate Ruess Fun.
  • Kids
  • Band
  • Cool

• So, two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.

  

  E. M. Forster
  • Democracy
  • Criticism
  • Cheers

• Islamism is an ideology that seeks to impose any version of Islam over society.

  

  Maajid Nawaz
  • Society
  • Islam
  • Ideology

• I had decided that if I was going to be a singer, I had to earn it. I had to learn how to play an instrument.

  

  Madonna Breakfast Club
  • Play
  • Learn
  • Singer

• We make assumptions: nurses should be nice, teachers should be good. But everyone has a dark side, some darker than others.

  

  Karin Slaughter
  • Good
  • Nice
  • Dark

• 'Heartbeats' is a film on people magnifying and subliming reality when they're in love. Hence the overstylized look, the aesthetics, the robes, the dresses, the vintage, hipster-ish look: All of this is voluntary. I'm not a hipster. I'm not!

  

  Xavier Dolan
  • People
  • Reality
  • Film

• Fall into your sentences; enjoy writing them. Love the world you are creating.

  

  Karen Bender
  • World
  • Writing
  • Enjoy

• I want to carry a show, but there are not a lot of leading parts for people who are not celebrities.

  

  Aaron Lazar
  • People
  • Want
  • Carry

• I'm really proud that the LGBT community has gotten behind me because, as I said, I am part of the community, so I do as much as I possibly can for our community and for our rights, so it's nice that everyone is supporting me as well.

  

  Tabatha Coffey
  • Community
  • Rights
  • Supporting

• The cultural expectation should be if there's infidelity, the marriage is more important than fidelity.

  

  Dan Savage
  • Important
  • Marriage
  • Expectation

• It's the way the human brain works: when enough events occur in a pattern, we stop thinking and go into macro mode.

  

  N. K. Jemisin
  • Thinking
  • Stop
  • Brain

• At 39, I was back in a Red Wings uniform and loving it.

  

  Ted Lindsay
  • Red
  • Loving
  • Wings

• Climate change - for so long an abstract concern for an academic few - is no longer so abstract. Even the Bush administration's Climate Change Science Programme reports 'clear evidence of human influences on the climate system.'

  

  Zac Goldsmith
  • Long
  • Science
  • Change

• People's dreams are made out of what they do all day. The same way a dog that runs after rabbits will dream of rabbits. It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.

  

  Barbara Kingsolver
  • People
  • Soul
  • Dream

• 'Mojave' is a very wild, throwback film with these two dudes going after each other.

  

  Oscar Isaac
  • Film
  • WIld
  • Throwback

• The one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable, like taking the kids to movies and theme parks.

  

  Barbara Ehrenreich
  • Money
  • Kids
  • Movies

• Nudity in a picture is such a delicate thing, and it is so rarely right. But it can be right if it's done by people with beautiful vision and if it becomes part of the melody of the situation. The body, after all, is a beautiful and secret thing.

  Nastassja Kinski
  • People
  • Done
  • Beautiful

• I don't get to listen to music for fun very often; a lot of what I'm hearing is for work and isn't released yet.

  

  John Roger Stephens
  • Work
  • Music
  • Fun

• I'm a children's book writer, and my wife is a musician. We've raised a family on income from songs, performances and books.

  

  Peter Lerangis
  • Children
  • Family
  • Book

• You try to avoid the mistakes you made in the past.

  

  Julio Iglesias
  • Past
  • Mistakes
  • Avoid

• It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful.

  

  W. H. Auden
  • Society
  • Past