Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the differing ways our senses interact with familiarity and novelty.
W. H. Auden's quote highlights the contrasting behaviors of our ears and eyes in how they respond to sound and sight. The ear often seeks out the familiar, showing a tendency to prefer what it knows, while the eye is drawn to new experiences and can become weary of the routine. This observation invites us to consider how we engage with the world and the importance of balancing our experiences with both familiarity and novelty.
Themes
SensesFamiliarityNoveltyPerceptionExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about art appreciation, emphasizing the need for fresh perspectives.
More from W. H. Auden
All quotes →That 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
What God requires of us he himself works in us, or it is not done. He that commands faith, holiness, and love, creates them by the power of his grace going along with his word, that he may have all the praise.
Matthew HenryRead
While sin is overflowing, [grace] pours itself forth so exuberantly, that it not only overcomes the flood of sin, but wholly absorbs it.
John CalvinRead
Once the principle is admitted that it is the duty of the government to protect the individual against his own foolishness, no serious objections can be advanced against further encroachments.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
I believe that the unity of mind and body is an objective reality. They are not just parts somehow related to each other, but an inseparable whole while functioning. A brain without a body could not think.
Moshe FeldenkraisRead
Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood. Others may decieve you - you decide what's good. You decide alone, but no one is alone. People make mistakes. Fathers, mothers, people make mistakes, holding to their own, thinking they're alone. Honor their mistakes. Fight for their mistakes. Witches can be right. Giants can be good. You decide what's right. You decide what's good.
Stephen SondheimRead
He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.
VoltaireRead