"It's a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it."

Sadness
🎨 Studio 2.0

Create & Download Shareable Quote Image

Export typography-grade cards optimized for Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok stories.

Free instant export. No watermark required.

Insight & Reflection

Words carry weight, and W. H. Auden's insight into sadness is no exception. It serves as a gentle reminder that amidst the chaos of modern life, timeless wisdom still holds the power to guide our decisions and clarify our values.

About W. H. Auden

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. Some of his best known poems are about love, such as "Funeral Blues"; on political and social themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; on cultural and psychological themes, such as The Age of Anxiety; and on religious themes, such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae".

More quotes by W. H. Auden →
Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

More by W. H. Auden

"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."

Read more →

"Every American poet feels that the whole responsibility for contemporary poetry has fallen upon his shoulders, that he is a literary aristocracy of one."

Read more →

More about Sadness

View all Sadness quotes →