W. H. Auden Quotes About Authority

Quotes about: Authority

• All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie, the romantic lie in the brain of the sensual man-in-the-street and the lie of Authority whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State and no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice to the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die.

  W. H. Auden

  Being Happy, Lying, Men

  Another Time (1940) "September 1, 1939"

• Rhymes, meters, stanza forms, etc., are like servants. If the master is fair enough to win their affection and firm enough to command their respect, the result is an orderly happy household. If he is too tyrannical, they give notice; if he lacks authority, they become slovenly, impertinent, drunk and dishonest.

  W. H. Auden

  Art, Winning, Drunk

• America has always been a country of amateurs where the professional, that is to say, the man who claims authority as a member of an élite which knows the law in some field or other, is an object of distrust and resentment.

  W. H. Auden

  Country, Men, Law

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