Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
Anyone who has a child today should train him to be either a physicist or a ballet dancer. Then he'll escape.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of equipping children with skills in disciplines that encourage creativity and scientific thought to navigate life's challenges.
W. H. Auden suggests that in today's complex and challenging world, parents should prepare their children for a successful future by encouraging them to pursue fields that require both analytical and artistic skills, such as physics and ballet. By doing so, children are equipped with versatile abilities that can help them overcome difficulties and find their own paths to fulfillment and success.
Themes
EducationCreativityScienceArtFuture
In practice
Example use cases
When discussing career choices with students, this quote highlights the importance of diverse skills.
More from W. H. Auden
All quotes βThat the speech of self-disclosure should be translatable seems to me very odd, but I am convinced that it is. The conclusion that I draw is that the only quality which all human being without exception possess is uniqueness: any characteristic, on the other hand, which one individual can be recognized as having in common with another, like red hair or the English language, implies the existence of other individual qualities which this classification excludes.
W. H. AudenRead
Nobody knows what the cause is, though some pretend they do; it like some hidden assassin waiting to strike at you. Childless women get it, and men when they retire; it as if there had to be some outlet for their foiled creative fire.
W. H. AudenRead
History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
W. H. AudenRead
Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
W. H. AudenRead
'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
W. H. AudenRead
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