Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the differing ways our senses interact with familiarity and novelty.
W. H. Auden's quote highlights the contrasting behaviors of our ears and eyes in how they respond to sound and sight. The ear often seeks out the familiar, showing a tendency to prefer what it knows, while the eye is drawn to new experiences and can become weary of the routine. This observation invites us to consider how we engage with the world and the importance of balancing our experiences with both familiarity and novelty.
Themes
SensesFamiliarityNoveltyPerceptionExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about art appreciation, emphasizing the need for fresh perspectives.
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
Similar quotes
In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate confidant. ... My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known - no wonder, then, that I return the love.
Soren KierkegaardRead
A display of indifference to all the actions and passions of mankind was not supposed to be such a distinguished quality at that time, I think, as I have observed it to be considered since. I have known it very fashionable indeed. I have seen it displayed with such success, that I have encountered some fine ladies and gentlemen who might as well have been born caterpillars.
Charles DickensRead
Letters are just pieces of paper," I said. "Burn them, and what stays in your heart will stay; keep them, and what vanishes will vanish.
Haruki MurakamiRead
The end of childhood is when things cease to astonish us. When the world seems familiar, when one has got used to existence, one has become an adult.
Eugene IonescoRead
How characteristic of your perverse heart that longs only for what happens to be out of reach.
Pierre Choderlos De LaclosRead
The satisfaction derived from the fleeting things of life is not lasting; and our wants remain unfulfilled. There is thus a general sense of dissatisfaction accompanied by all kinds of worries.
Meher BabaRead