W. H. Auden Quotes

But if a stranger in the train asks me my occupation, I never answer "writer" for fear that he may go on to ask me what I write, and to answer "poetry" would embarrass us both, for we both know that nobody can earn a living simply by writing poetry.

W. H. Auden

• Writing
• May
• Fear
• Poetry

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Quotes to Explore

• The will is commendable though the ability may be wanting.

  

  Ovid
  • May
  • Ability
  • Will

• When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic.

  

  Carl Rogers
  • People
  • World
  • Optimistic

• In the case of my book, I don't think it's really the coming-out gay novel that everyone really needed, even though it was received as such. The boy is too creepy, he betrays his teacher, the only adult man with whom he's enjoyed a sexual experience, etc.

  

  Edmund White
  • Experience
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• Creating things sometimes is difficult.

  

  Warren Littlefield
  • Sometimes
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  • Difficult

• When I was writing pretty poor poetry, this girl with midnight black hair told me to go on.

  

  Carl Sandburg
  • Writing
  • Pretty
  • Black

• As it relates to society in general, I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.'

  

  Dan T. Cathy
  • God
  • Society
  • Marriage

• I hate being manipulated by song. Don't tell me what I should be feeling. I don't want cellos or violins to be telling me that I should be bawling right now.

  

  Vera Farmiga
  • Song
  • Feeling
  • Hate

• I did a lot of stunts, so the harness work isn't foreign to me either.

  

  Victoria Pratt
  • Work
  • Foreign
  • Stunts

• My father loves people. No matter what their race, no matter what their position in life, he treated everyone with kindness and love and respect. And that was instilled in me just by watching him.

  

  Laila Ali
  • People
  • Respect
  • Kindness

• America is huge.

  

  Ace Frehley Kiss
  • America
  • Huge

• I'm concerned about my daughter because she will not believe in Santa Claus. No matter what I say to her, she just doesn't buy it, and she's 2. I refuse to give it up. I say, 'There is a Santa Claus,' and she says, 'Okay, Mommy. In pretend world, right?' She really doesn't believe.

  

  Salma Hayek
  • Up
  • World
  • Believe

• It takes people a while to trust you.

  

  Karl Malone
  • People
  • You
  • Trust

• The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.

  

  Ursula K. Le Guin
  • You
  • Yourself
  • Questions

• I didn't grow up with a mother, so I don't have that resource to rely on and ask a million questions.

  

  Vanessa Minnillo
  • Up
  • Mother
  • Questions

• I really like one-on-one, rich relationships.

  

  Kate Bosworth
  • Like
  • Rich
  • Relationships

• The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are convinced that the voting public is, too. They count on outrage, thereby spreading numbness. They cherish the prospect of partisan fury, thereby inspiring nonpartisan disgust.

  

  Walter Kirn
  • Business
  • Political
  • Drunk

• I think there are certain business matters which we must now conduct differently than we used to.

  

  Vince McMahon
  • Business
  • Think
  • Now

• Getting to do 'December Songs' in a cabaret-style format was so interesting because it's like a one-woman song cycle that actually tells a story. It feels like a theatrical experience more than a cabaret because I didn't talk in between. We went from one song to the next, nine songs in a row - bam - I told the story in half an hour.

  

  Laura Osnes
  • Experience
  • Song
  • Interesting

• The value of an arts education is widely accepted, especially in California.

  

  Gavin Newsom
  • Education
  • Value
  • California

• Writing a TV show is totally different than writing features, or just, what I started doing is writing features. You write a little bit more organically. You start from the beginning to the end, beginning, middle and end.

  

  David Labrava
  • Different
  • Writing
  • Beginning

• If we're going to be serious about decarbonizing the bulk-power system, nuclear has to be part of the conversation.

  

  Lynn Good
  • Power
  • Serious

• I can see myself always writing songs - but I'm not sure if I'll always want to perform.

  

  Oliver Sim The xx
  • Writing
  • Want
  • Myself

• Having written both comedy and drama, comedy's harder because the fear of failure's so much stronger. When you write a scene and you see it cut together, and it doesn't make you laugh, it hurts in a way that failed drama doesn't. Failed drama, it's all, 'That's not that compelling,' but failed comedy just lays there.

  

  Rob Thomas Matchbox Twenty
  • Together
  • Fear
  • Comedy

• But if a stranger in the train asks me my occupation, I never answer "writer" for fear that he may go on to ask me what I write, and to answer "poetry" would embarrass us both, for we both know that nobody can earn a living simply by writing poetry.

  

  W. H. Auden
  • Writing
  • May
  • Fear