Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
My face looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain.
Interpretation
This quote humorously describes someone whose appearance may not be pristine or ideal.
W. H. Auden uses a vivid and comical metaphor to convey feelings of dishevelment or disappointment in one's appearance. By comparing his face to a 'wedding-cake left out in the rain', he emphasizes the contrast between the expected beauty of a wedding cake and the unfortunate, messy reality that can occur when it is exposed to the elements.
In practice
This quote can be used in a light-hearted speech about self-acceptance.
Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
That 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.
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.
History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
Ascot is so exclusive that it is the only racecourse in the world where the horses own the people.
Ninety-eight per cent of laughter is nothing to do with jokes, which do not deserve to bear the weight of all the funny stuff in the world.
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
"Would you like to see the menu?" he said. "Or would you like to meet the Dish of the Day?" [...] "Good evening," it lowed and sat back heavily on its haunches, "I am the main Dish of the Day. May I interest you in parts of my body?"
Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
You know how they say that religion is the opiate of the masses? Well I took masses of opiates religiously.
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