The Complete Works of W.H. Auden Quotes

“Laziness acknowledges the relation of the present to the past but ignores its relation to the future; impatience acknowledge its relation to the future but ignores its relation to the past; neither the lazy nor the impatient man, that is, accepts the present instant in its full reality and so cannot love his neighbour completely.”
― W.H. Auden, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume III: 1949-1955

“The most exciting rhythms seem unexpected and complex, the most beautiful melodies simple and inevitable.”
― W.H. Auden, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume III: 1949-1955

“Drama is based on the Mistake.”
― W.H. Auden, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume III: 1949-1955

“Thousands have lived without love, none without water.”
― W.H. Auden, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume III: 1949-1955

“So long as we think of it objectively, time is Fate or Chance, the factor in our lives for which we are not responsible, and about which we can do nothing; but when we begin to think of it subjectively, we feel responsible for our time, and the notion of punctuality arises.”
― W.H. Auden, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume III: 1949-1955