#auden

In short, it became possible - never easy, but possible - in the poet Auden's phrase to find the mortal world enough. ↗

— Stephen Greenblatt

#auden #renaissance #art

I don't know," I said. "What else did you do for your first eighteen years?" "Like I said," he said as I unlocked the car, "I'm not so sure that you should go by my example." "Why not?" "Because I have my regrets," he said. "Also, I'm a guy. And guys do different stuff." "Like ride bikes?" I said. "No," he replied. "Like have food fights. And break stuff. And set off firecrackers on people's front porches. And..." "Girls can't set off firecrackers on people's front porches?" "They can," he said... "But they're smart enough not to. That's the difference. ↗

— Sarah Dessen

#auden #boys #eli #firecrackers #girls

Maybe if I'd agreed to do the debutante thing like she wanted. Or taken up pageants instead of riding jump bikes with a bunch of grungy boys. I'd always tell her, why can't I do both? Who says you have to be either smart or pretty, or into girly stuff or sports? Life shouldn't be about the either/or. We're capable of more than that, you know? ↗

— Sarah Dessen

#auden-west #bikes #boys #capable-of-more #debutante

I don't know," I said. "Maybe you're right, and all that stuff I think I missed is overrated. Why should I even bother? What's the point really?" He thought for a moment. "Who says there has to be a point?" he asked. "Or a reason. Maybe it's just something you have to do." He moved down to start bagging while I just stood there, letting this sink in. Just something you have to do. No excuse or rationale necessary. I kind of like that. ↗

— Sarah Dessen

#auden-west #eli-stock #life #sarah-dessen #life

He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. ↗

— W.H. Auden

#love

Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer. ↗

— Sarah Dessen

#auden #bhie #sarah-dessen #hurt

[Adam picks up the camera] "I have to get a shot of this." The reaction in the room was swift, and unanimous: every single person except me raised their hands at once to cover their faces. The accompanying utterances, though, were varied. I heard everything from "Please no" (Maggie), to "Jesus Christ" (Wallace), to "Stop it or die" (I'm assuming it's obvious). ↗

— Sarah Dessen

#auden #camera #eli #photo #christ

It was so risky and so scary, and yet at the same time, so beautiful. Maybe the truth was, it shouldn't be easy to be amazing. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder -if not impossible- to lose. ↗

— Sarah Dessen

#auden-west #eli-stock #life-lesson #overcoming-obstacles #risks

The Auden/Kallman relationship had this to be said for it: It affirmed that it's better to be blatant than latent. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#coming-out #homosexuality #relationships #the-closet #wh-auden