Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
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.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the unique nature of each individual, suggesting that common traits do not define us entirely.
W. H. Auden expresses the idea that while certain characteristics may be shared among people, it is our uniqueness that truly defines us as individuals. He suggests that classifications based on common traits can obscure the very personal qualities that set us apart, highlighting the complexity of human identity and the importance of acknowledging our distinctiveness in understanding ourselves and others.
In practice
During a personal development workshop discussing individuality.
Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
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.'
Murder is unique in that it abolishes the party it injures, so that society has to take the place of the victim and on his behalf demand atonement or grant forgiveness; it is the one crime in which society has a direct interest.
I believe every person has a guardian spirit or angel. They assist us in the transition between life and death and they also help us pick our parents before we are born.
The decay of old aristocratic prejudices against greedy speculation, the undermining of orthodox Christian faith (which forbids avarice)... the debauching of agriculture to a gross money-getting concern: these particular aspects of a vast and voracious concentration upon profits are so many illustrations of our sinning confusion of values.
Freedom can be manifested only in the void of beliefs, in the absence of axioms, and only where the laws have no more authority than a hypothesis.
What a peculiar privilege has this little agitation of the brain which we call 'thought'.
Our whole being is nothing but a fight against the dark forces within ourselves.
In truth, there is no rational argument for guns in this society. This is no longer a frontier nation in which people hunt their own food. It is a crowded, overwhelmingly urban country in which letting people have access to guns is a continuing disaster.
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