For a desert island, one would choose a good dictionary rat… - W. H. Auden

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For a desert island, one would choose a good dictionary rather than the greatest literary masterpiece imaginable, for, in relation to its readers, a dictionary is absolutely passive and may legitimately be read in an infinite number of ways.

W. H. Auden

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.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: Wystan Hugh Auden

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

All quotes from W. H. Auden Similar Quotes by other Originators

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

Some thirty inches from my nose
The frontier of my Person goes,
And all the untilled air between
Is private pagus or demesne.
Stranger, unless with bedroom eyes
I beckon you to fraternize,
Beware of rudely crossing it:
I have no gun, but I can spit.

The law cannot forgive, for the law has not been wronged, only broken; only persons can be wronged. The law can pardon, but it can only pardon what it has the power to punish.

حين كان يضحك
كان أعضاء مجلس الشيوخ الموقرون ينفجرون بالضحك
وحين كان يبكي
كان الأطفال يموتون في الشوارع

For a desert island, one would choose a good dictionary rather than the greatest literary masterpiece imaginable, for, in relation to its readers, a … - W. H. Auden

About W. H. Auden

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