I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

W.H. Auden

Read September 1, 1939 at poets.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Cycle of violence Eye for an eye Human nature

Author

W.H. Auden

Source

September 1, 1939 Another Time

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Occupation

Poet Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Auden, W. H. "September 1, 1939." The New Republic, 18 Oct. 1939.

Current Citation

Auden, W. H. "September 1, 1939." Another Time. Faber & Faber, 2019.

Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by W.H. Auden

Evil is unspectacular and always human,
And shares our bed and eats at our table.

W.H. Auden

More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of evil Evil

Author

W.H. Auden
Source
Herman Melville
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1940 1940s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Auden, Wystan Hugh. "Herman Melville." Another Time. Random House, 1940.

Current Citation

Auden, Wystan Hugh. "Herman Melville." The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Poems. Volume 1. Edited by Edward Mendelson. Princeton University Press, 2022.

Another quote from the 1930s

Men have gained control over the forces of nature to such an extent that with their help they could have no difficulty in exterminating one another to the last man. They know this, and hence comes a large part of their current unrest, their unhappiness and their mood of anxiety.

Sigmund Freud

Civilization and Its Discontents

Buy Civilization and Its Discontents at Amazon Buy Civilization and Its Discontents at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Downsides of technology

Author

Sigmund Freud
Source
Civilization and Its Discontents
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
German
Time
1930 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Freud, Sigmund. Das Unbehagen in der Kultur [Civilization and Its Discontents]. Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag Wien, 1930, pt. 8.

Current Citation

Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. Translated by James Strachey. W. W. Norton & Company, 2021, pt. 8.

Another quote about Human nature

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.

Alexander Hamilton

Federalist 15

Buy The Federalist Papers at Amazon Buy The Federalist Papers at Amazon
Read Federalist No. 15 at the Library of Congress website
More information about this quote
Topic
Political theory Government Politics Human nature

Author

Alexander Hamilton
Source
Federalist 15 The Federalist Papers
Medium
Essay
Genre
Political literature
Language
English
Time
1787 1780s 18th century
Era
American Revolutionary Period
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Hamilton, Alexander [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 15: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union." Independent Journal, 1 Dec. 1787.

Current Citation

Hamilton, Alexander. "No. 15: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union." The Federalist Papers, edited by Mary Carolyn Waldrep and Jim Miller. Dover Publications, 2014.

Another quote from 1939

A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted—in the air. A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward. A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards. A liberal is a man who uses his legs and his hands at the behest...of his head.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

More information about this quote
Topic
Politics
Speaker
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1939 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Roosevelt, Franklin D. Radio address to the New York Herald Tribune Forum. 26 Oct. 1939. Washington, D.C., USA. Radio address.