In the end, art is small beer. The really serious things are earning one's living so as not to be a parasite and loving one's neighbor.
W. H. AudenSay this city has ten million souls, Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes: Yet thereโs no place for us, my dear, yet thereโs no place for us.
W. H. AudenA craftsman knows in advance what the finished result will be, while the artist knows only what it will be when he has finished it.
W. H. AudenAs a poet, there is only one political duty, and that is to defend one's language from corruption.
W. H. AudenBetween friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.
W. H. AudenSlavery is so intolerable a condition that the slave can hardly escape deluding himself into thinking that he is choosing to obey his master's commands when, in fact, he is obliged to. Most slaves of habit suffer from this delusion and so do some writers, enslaved by an all too personal style.
W. H. Auden