"The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition"
- W. H. Auden
About this Quote
This quote by W. H. Auden talks to the differences between how we perceive things through our ears and our eyes. Auden recommends that our ears are more likely to be drawn to the familiar and to be shocked by the unforeseen, while our eyes are most likely to be drawn to the novel and to be tired by repeating. This suggests that our ears are more likely to be comfortable with the familiar, while our eyes are most likely to be seeking out something new and amazing. This might be analyzed as a metaphor for how we approach life in general, with our ears being most likely to stay with the same regular and our eyes being most likely to seek out new experiences.
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