Choice of attention-to pay attention to this and ignore that-is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences.
self reliance

About This Quote

About W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden was a 20th-century American american poet. Wystan Hugh Auden was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content. Read more on Wikipedia →

More quotes by W. H. Auden

“If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me.”
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“'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'”
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Art Science Healing

“When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a room full of dukes.”
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“A professor is someone who talks in someone else's sleep.”
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Sleep Someone Professor

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.”
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Love Water Without

“Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.”
— W. H. Auden
Sound Picnic Thunder
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