In the eyes of others a man is a poet if he has written one good poem. In his own he is only a poet at the moment when he is making his last revision to a new poem. The moment before, he was still only a potential poet; the moment after, he is a man who has ceased to write poetry, perhaps forever.
W. H. AudenIt's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too much. I can see myself doing it. In England, one feels all the social restraints holding one back. But here, anything can happen.
W. H. AudenAn unmanly sort of man whose love life seems to have been largely confined to crying in laps and playing mouse.
W. H. AudenI and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.
W. H. Auden