“Between friends differences in taste or opinion are irritating in direct proportion to their triviality.”

— W. H. Auden, The Dyer's Hand, and Other Essays (1962)

About W. H. Auden

1907 – 1973

Anglo-American poet, author of "September 1, 1939".

“We must love one another or die.”

“O let not Time deceive you, you cannot conquer Time.”

“The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.”

“Friendship craves / The commerce of the mind, not the exchange / Of emulous feasts that foster sycophants.”

“Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.”

“Why, what is weeping and sighing? A judgement. What is misfortune? A judgement.”

“Remember that all is opinion.”

“The universe is flux, life is opinion.”

“While both are dear, piety requires us to honor truth above our friends.”