Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself. Whenever a man so concentrates his attention - on a landscape, a poem, a geometrical problem, an idol, or the True God - that he completely forgets his own ego and desires, he is praying. The primary task of the schoolteacher is to teach children, in a secular context, the technique of prayer.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Prayer is a way of focusing on something beyond oneself, leading to a deeper understanding and connection with the world.
In this quote, W. H. Auden suggests that the act of prayer transcends traditional religious practices and can be understood as a profound focus on anything outside of oneself that captures one's full attention, whether it's art, nature, or a deeper truth. He emphasizes the importance of teaching this technique in educational settings, allowing individuals, especially children, to learn the value of concentrating on aspects beyond their own personal desires, cultivating a sense of awareness and appreciation for the world around them.
Themes
PrayerAttentionSelflessnessTeachingAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mindfulness, one might say, 'As W. H. Auden expresses, 'To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself.'
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
A collection to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed is, in fact, dead!
Sigmund FreudRead
Whatever is, is in its causes just.
John DrydenRead
The plain working truth is that it is not only good for people to be shocked occasionally, but absolutely necessary to the progress of society that they should be shocked pretty often.
George Bernard ShawRead
How could somebody be comfortable with authorizing legally the use of lethal force? My view is if you become comfortable with it, then you should get out of the job.
Jeh JohnsonRead
I believe there is a reason such as autism, severe manic-depression, and schizophrenia remain in our gene pool even though there is much suffering as a result.
Temple GrandinRead
Awareness of the inner body is consciousness remembering its origin and returning to the Source.
Eckhart TolleRead