If the most significant characteristic of man is the complex of biological needs he shares with all members of his species, then the best lives for the writer to observe are those in which the role of natural necessity is clearest, namely, the lives of the very poor.
W. H. AudenOf all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is the easiest for a journalist.
W. H. AudenOh, how I wish that Orwell were still alive, so that I could read his comments on contemporary events!
W. H. AudenBe subtle, various, ornamental, clever, And do not listen to those critics ever Whose crude provincial gullets crave in books Plain cooking made still plainer by plain cooks.
W. H. Auden