Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
Man is a history-making creature, who can neither repeat his past, nor leave it behind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans are shaped by their history, unable to fully escape it or recreate it.
This quote by W. H. Auden emphasizes the unique position of human beings in the grand narrative of time. We are continually influenced by our past experiences and historical context, which shapes our present and future actions. While we cannot relive our past, its impacts linger, making our journey forward a complex interplay of memory and aspiration.
Themes
HistoryHumanityPastMemoryExistence
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the importance of history in shaping our identities, this quote could illustrate our relationship with our past.
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
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