Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have not yet developed a significant profile of their own.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children's expressions are superficial and do not yet reveal their true selves.
This quote by W. H. Auden suggests that the outward appearances or expressions (countenances) of children, similar to animals, do not convey their true inner identities. At a young age, individuals have not yet forged a strong personal identity or character, and their outward expressions are mere masks that do not fully capture the complexity of their developing selves.
Themes
ChildrenIdentityExpressionPhilosophyDevelopment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about child development in a parenting seminar.
More from W. H. Auden
All quotes βThat the speech of self-disclosure should be translatable seems to me very odd, but I am convinced that it is. The conclusion that I draw is that the only quality which all human being without exception possess is uniqueness: any characteristic, on the other hand, which one individual can be recognized as having in common with another, like red hair or the English language, implies the existence of other individual qualities which this classification excludes.
W. H. AudenRead
Nobody knows what the cause is, though some pretend they do; it like some hidden assassin waiting to strike at you. Childless women get it, and men when they retire; it as if there had to be some outlet for their foiled creative fire.
W. H. AudenRead
History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
W. H. AudenRead
Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
W. H. AudenRead
'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
W. H. AudenRead
Similar quotes
Stubborn selfishness leads otherwise good people to fight over herds, patches of sand, and strippings of milk. All this results from what the Lord calls coveting "the drop," while neglecting the "more weighty matters." (D&C 117:8) Myopic selfishness magnifies a mess of pottage and makes thirty pieces of silver look like a treasure trove. In our intense acquisitiveness, we forget Him who once said, "What is property unto me?"
Neal A. MaxwellRead
In the uttermost meaning of the words, thought is devout, and devotion is thought. Deep calls unto deep.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Giving up attachment to the world does not mean that you set yourself apart from it. Generating a desire for others to be happy increases your humanity. As you become less attached to the world, you become more humane. As the very purpose of spiritual practice is to help others, you must remain in society.
Dalai LamaRead
By philosophy the mind of man comes to itself, and from henceforth rests on itself without foreign aid, and is completely master of itself, as the dancer of his feet, or the boxer of his hands.
Johann Gottlieb FichteRead
Hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, political, or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies.
Mark TwainRead
Pain and happiness are simply conditions of the ego. Forget the ego.
LaoziRead