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Whatever you do, good or bad, people will always have something negative to say
W. H. Auden
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Interpretation

What this quote means

People will always judge your actions, regardless of their outcomes.

This quote by W. H. Auden highlights the inevitability of judgment from others, no matter the nature of your actions. It suggests that regardless of whether you achieve success or encounter failure, external opinions will persist, often leaning towards the negative. This reflects a broader truth about human nature and societal expectations, urging individuals to focus on their own values and intentions rather than seeking approval from others.

Themes

JudgmentCriticismOpinionActionsSociety

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about resilience, one might quote Auden to emphasize the importance of staying true to oneself despite external criticism.

More from W. H. Auden

Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
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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.
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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.
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History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
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Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
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'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
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