Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Praying involves focusing on entities outside of oneself, emphasizing selflessness.
W. H. Auden's quote highlights the essence of prayer as an act that shifts our attention away from our own concerns to something greater. It suggests that true prayer is not solely about asking for help or guidance, but rather an act of paying respect and consideration to the needs or existence of others, whether that be a divine entity or fellow beings.
Themes
PrayerAttentionSelflessnessConcernEmpathy
In practice
Example use cases
During a sermon, the pastor quoted Auden to emphasize the importance of community and selflessness in prayer.
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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The man whose whole activity is diverted to inner meditation becomes insensible to all his surroundings. His passions are mere appearances, being sterile. They are dissipated in futile imaginings, producing nothing external to themselves.
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Hours and days and months and years go by; the past returns no more, and what is to be we cannot know; but whatever the time gives us in which we live, we should therefore be content.
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You can cultivate taste, as you can the intellect. Full understanding whets the appetite and desire, and, later, sharpens the enjoyment of possession.
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