Attacking bad books is not only a waste of time but also ba… - W. H. Auden

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Attacking bad books is not only a waste of time but also bad for the character. If I find a book really bad, the only interest I can derive from writing about it has to come from myself, from such display of intelligence, wit and malice as I can contrive. One cannot review a bad book without showing off.

W. H. Auden

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literary-criticism

English

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About W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was an Anglo-American poet known for his vast poetic work in many forms on many themes.

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Also Known As

Native Name: Wystan Hugh Auden

Alternative Names: Wystan Auden • Wystan H Auden • W. H. Wystan Hugh Auden

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One cannot review a bad book without showing off.

Originators like W. H. Auden:

T. S. Eliot Czesław Miłosz E. M. Forster William Carlos Williams Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Additional quotes by W. H. Auden

Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse.

All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one by a simple act of will but must wait until what he believes to be a good idea for a work comes to him.

Say this city has ten million souls,
Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:
Yet there’s no place for us, my dear, yet there’s no place for us.

Attacking bad books is not only a waste of time but also bad for the character. If I find a book really bad, the only interest I can derive from writ… - W. H. Auden

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