Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great artistic expression arises from a deep understanding of complex emotions.
W. H. Auden's quote suggests that the essence of great art lies in the artist's ability to articulate their mixed feelings through clear and thoughtful expression. This clarity allows the artist to transform their emotional complexities into a creative form that resonates with others, highlighting the profound connection between emotional insight and artistic creation.
Themes
ArtEmotionClear ThinkingMixed FeelingsExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the creative process, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of emotional clarity in art.
More from W. H. Auden
All quotes →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.
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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