This ease of access is in itself a blessing, but its misuse can make it a curse. We are all of us tempted to read more poetry and fiction, look at more pictures, listen to more music than we can possibly respond to properly, and the consequence of such over-indulgence is not a cultured mind but a consuming one; what it reads, looks at, listens to, is immediately forgotten, leaving no more traces than yesterday’s newspaper.

Auden, W.H. “Culture and Leisure.” Lecture delivered in 1966!

This comes from a review of the recently completed collection of Auden’s prose: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-complete-works-of-auden-showcases-writings-beyond-the-poetry/2015/09/09/596e1362-5626-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_story.html?mc_cid=9d43685789&mc_eid=968c129113