Autres citations de W.H. Auden, en commençant par les mots d'amour:
"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can; all of them make me laugh."
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"Il était mon Nord, mon Sud, mon Est et mon Ouest,
Ma semaine de travail, mon dimanche de sieste,
Mon midi, mon minuit, ma parole, ma chanson.
Je croyais que l’amour jamais ne finirait, j’avais tort.
.
Que les étoiles se retirent, qu’on les balaye,
Emballe la lune et démonte le soleil,
Vide l’océan et balaie les bois,
Car rien maintenant ne vaut plus la peine."
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"He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good."
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"Quand il viendra, viendra-t-il sans avertissement
Au moment où je me gratterai le nez?
Frappera-t-il à ma porte un beau matin
Ou me marchera-t-il sur les pieds dans l'autobus?"
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"I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street."
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"But once in a while the odd thing happens
Once in a while the dream comes true
And the whole pattern of life is altered
Once in a while, the moon turns blue."
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"Laziness acknowledges the relation of the present to the past but ignores its relation to the future; impatience acknowledge its relation to the future but ignores its relation to the past; neither the lazy nor the impatient man, that is, accepts the present instant in its full reality and so cannot love his neighbour completely."
"Nobody is ever sent to Hell: he or she insists on going there."
"We would rather be ruined than changed. We would rather die in our dread than climb the cross of the moment and let our illusions die."
"No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the successes of those under him."
"The most important truths are likely to be those which society at that time least wants to hear."
"A craftsman knows in advance what the finished result will be, while the artist knows only what it will be when he has finished it."
"Soyez bons, et vous serez heureux. Voilà une dangereuse inversion. Soyez heureux et vous serez bons, voilà ce qui est vrai. Les hommes parlent souvent de leur droit au bonheur. En fait, c'est leur seul devoir."
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Pablo Neruda est cité ici:
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/wawa/blog/161021/lamour-est-si-court-loubli-si-long
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