Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
Money cannot buy the fuel of love but is excellent kindling.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Money cannot create love, but it can support romantic gestures.
This quote suggests that while love is an intrinsic emotional bond that cannot be purchased or manufactured, financial resources can enhance romantic experiences and opportunities. Love is built on genuine feelings and connections, yet money can play a role in nurturing those feelings by providing a means to express them through kind acts or gifts.
Themes
MoneyLoveKindlingRelationshipsValentines
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding toast, to emphasize the importance of emotional connection over material gifts.
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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The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself. Of course he wants care and shelter. You don't buy love for nothing.
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