For man the present is not real but valuable. He can neither repeat the past exactly---every moment is unique---nor leave it behind---at every moment he adds to and thereby modifies all that has previously happened to him.引自 4. <The Quest Hero> by W. H. Auden
接下去是我最喜欢的一段话之一：
If one concentrates upon his ever open future, the natural image is of a road stretching ahead into unexpected country, but if one concentrates upon his unforgettable past, the natural image is of a city, which built in every style of architecture and in which the physically dead are as active citizens as the living.
The only characteristic common to both images is a sense of purpose; a road, even if its destination is invisible, runs in a certain direction; a city is built to endure and be a home.引自 4. <The Quest Hero> by W. H. Auden
表示其中内容是对原文的摘抄