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Archives for the 'Biography' Category
January 25th, 1998 by Laura Moncur in Biography
It is usually fairly difficult for me to compose these pages. I search the books and web pages for a timely subject, and then search my quote books and literature for great quotes. This week, however, did not pose those problems. W. Somerset Maugham’s name jumped right out at me and there were plenty of quotes available in the quote books.
W. Somerset Maugham was born in Paris on January 25, 1874. He abandoned a medical career to pursue literature. Suffering from a stammer, he was able to express what he desired with eloquence through the printed word. He was the author of Rain (later made into a movie with Joan Crawford) and the ever popular Of Human Bondage (also made into a movie with Bette Davis).
Of Human Bondage was my first real experience with Somerset Maugham (although I didn’t know it at the time). When my sugar levels are erratic, I suffer from an insomnia that awakens me at 3 a.m. with nightmares. I am unable to return to sleep, and I can’t take a sleeping pill because I would sleep until noon. Instead, I have learned to stay awake and lose the two hours of sleep to bad movies and offset schedules. On one of these occasions, AMC was running the movie Of Human Bondage. I watched it strictly because of Bette Davis, but I expected the cheesy movie faire that Jezebel and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? had given me.
I was shocked to find an intelligent and moving screenplay about a club-footed and shy young man (Philip) who falls desperately in love with a cheap and no-good waitress (Mildred). The treatment of such a storyline I had never thought possible in a black and white movie. I expected love and foppery, and instead I was agonizing over the Philip’s choice of Mildred over the loving and wonderful woman he had found in later life. I had seen this scene replayed by my friends before, and I sat on my couch, bundled in a blanket, just as helpless to aid Philip as I had been when my friends made the same stupid choices. I was entranced and spellbound.
The following are some of the best quotes from this great author.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “Tea girls, warm and sweet. / Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham Suite.”
- Tim Rice, “Chess”
“There is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.”
W. Somerset Maugham
“People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.”
W. Somerset Maugham, “Of Human Bondage,” 1915
“At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.”
W. Somerset Maugham, “Writer’s Notebook,” 1949
“When I was young I was amazed at Plutarch’s statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake tasks that youth shirked because they would take too long.”
W. Somerset Maugham
“Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five.”
W. Somerset Maugham, “Of Human Bondage,” 1915
“It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”
W. Somerset Maugham
“It was such a lovely day I thought it a pity to get up.”
W. Somerset Maugham, “Our Betters,” 1923
“Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.”
W. Somerset Maugham
“If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.”
W. Somerset Maugham, “Strictly Personal,” 1941
“She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.”
W. Somerset Maugham
Featured Books
The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
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Of Human Bondage Paperback by W. Somerset Maugham – Immerse yourself in the original story of Philip and Mildred.
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Of Human Bondage VHS Tape starring Bette Davis – The movie that haunted me is just as good today as it was when it was filmed.
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Collected Short Stories: Volume 1 Paperback by W. Somerset Maugham – This collection is the first of a four volume collection of his short stories. There are 30 stories in all, including The Fall of Edward Barnard.
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Rain VHS Tape starring Joan Crawford – Another movie adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s work. Joan Crawford stars as a career woman on a Samoan island who is pursued by a religious man played by Walter Huston.
For more information about W. Somerset Maugham, try these links:
- W. Somerset Maugham Quotes – A small list of quotes from our featured gentleman. The attributes are simple, but there are a few there that are not listed in this week’s list.
Of Human Bondage – The Book-Reading Club read this book by Somerset Maugham. Their comments, a link to the full book, and a summary of the book are available through this simple page. I read through some of their comments and now I’m jealous that I didn’t read it along with the group.
Great Quotations To Inspire – Quotes from Somerset Maugham, compliments of The People’s Cyber Nation. A large selection divided by subject with simple attributes.
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January 18th, 1998 by Laura Moncur in Biography
When I think of Edgar Allan Poe, I smile deviously to myself. My reasons for this are more intense than I realized before starting this week’s column. I think I can blame my mom for this (rather convenient, don’t you suppose?)
After months of unexplained nightmares, my mother found out about my horror addiction. I had secretly been reading every scary book I could get my hands on. I consumed ghost stories, Big Foot legends, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King and Ann Rice. The night terrors followed, and when my huddled form was discovered in the bed with a flashlight in one hand and a ghost story in the other, my reading material was banned. My mother literally grounded me from scary books (understand that I was 11 years old at the time).
Edgar Allan Poe, however, was another story. He was the one gore-master that my mother was glad to see me to read. It was only school that made me shy away from him. There is nothing more able to quench the flames of literary desire than being required to read something.
So, I sit here, on the eve of Edgar’s birthday, smiling to myself at the thought of him. Now, I avoid the horror genre, but the dark and curious side of me is drawn to it at times. It’s a fight with myself that I lose when the dark months of winter make me believe that there is no end to this evil season. This is the perfect time to immerse yourself into a good Poe story.
The following are my favorite quotes from Edgar Allan Poe. These were hard fought quotes, dredged from the bowels of his literature itself, since most quote books don’t cover him well, if at all.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
- Eleonora, 1841
“There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.”
The Black Cat, 1843
“There are moments when, even to the sober eye of Reason, the world of our sad Humanity may assume the semblance of a Hell.”
Premature Burial, 1844
“Her whom in life thou didst abhor, in death thou shalt adore.”
Morella, 1850
“There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made.”
The Masque of the Red Death, 1842
“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence- whether much that is glorious- whether all that is profound- does not spring from disease of thought – from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”
Eleonora, 1841
“But, as in ethics, evil is a consequence of good, so, in fact, out of joy is sorrow born.”
Berenice, 1835
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?”
Premature Burial, 1844
Featured Books
The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
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The Dark Eye : The Official Strategy Guide (Secrets of the Games Series.) Paperback by Colleen Green, Barbara Karg – There was a game available in 1996 called The Dark Eye. I was a wonderful game, in which you get to be the character in Edgar Allan Poe’s stories (for example, you hate Fortuno and you want him dead, so you have to lead him to your family’s crypt and brick him into it. If you haven’t read The Cask of Amontillado, you would be hard pressed to finish that section of the game). This is the guidebook to this game. I couldn’t find the game for you to buy, but it looks just like the cover of this book, so if you see it, snap it up because I enjoyed many hours of fun with it. (Last time I saw this game available, it was in a discount collection with a couple of other games, so you can try there.)
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The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Paperback by Edgar Allan Poe – Treat yourself to the work of this great man. My favorites are The Cask of Amontillado (perfect revenge story), The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (Can hypnotism prevent you from dying? Find out here), and Berenice (not only premature burial, but also a tooth obsession). Read on and enjoy!
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The Best of Edgar Allan Poe Audio Cassette narrated by Edward Blake – If you prefer to listen to the horrors of madness and obsession, try this collection. The stories that are included are unabridged.
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Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Paperback by Daniel Hoffman – I had to recommend this biography, if only because of the title. Read about the life of Edgar Allan Poe.
For more information about Edgar Allan Poe, try these links:
- The Edgar Allan Poe Page – This site includes the complete works of Poe, other Poe links, lists of movies, and lots more. My favorite stories are there, so if you’re desperate to read Berenice because of all my ravings, feel free. The text is easy to access and read (it’s just that you can’t curl up with a computer like you can with a book from Amazon.com, that’s all).
The Edgar Allan Poe Page – A list of links and a concise biography of Mr. Poe.
Cybertour: Edgar Allan Poe – Another collection of links and interesting critiques of the sites you can link to.
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January 4th, 1998 by Laura Moncur in Biography, Literature
This month marks two events in Thomas Paine’s life. Firstly, on January 29, 1737,
Thomas Paine was born. Quite a few years later, on January 10, 1776, Common Sense
was published. I am ashamed to say that I knew very little about Thomas Paine
before I started this week’s page. I was aware that he was some sort of governmental
philosopher (no funny quotes there) and that he was generally the source of many
quotes that people tended to ask about. I suspected that he was the man who said,
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” but I knew little else of the man.
I don’t know what to think of this figure. On one hand, he seems to be a great
American Patriot. The thoughts and ideas visited in Common Sense are the
kind of fodder that I was taught from a very young age. On the other, he seems to
be a master of propaganda. Common Sense tends to decide for the reader
what is the only way for America to go. He went so far as to state at the
beginning of the section “Of the present ability of America, with some
miscellaneous reflexions” that it was inevitable that America separate with
England without any argument otherwise. The act of naming the pamphlet Common
Sense was in itself a propaganda-type move.
Maybe I distrust this figure because he is the origin of a governmental system
in which I have little trust. His suggestions of representation merely infuriate
me because I am a Democrat living in a state that has voted Republican ever since
I could vote. I have no voice in my home state, no matter how many committees I
join or how many flyers I hand out. I feel as though my third grade teacher lied
to me when she said that there should be no taxation without representation,
because I am not represented. Until I resolve my issue with the present
governmental system, I doubt I will be able to make a decision on Thomas Paine.
Until then, enjoy these famous (and not so famous, but true) quotes from Thomas Paine.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial
appearance of being right.”
- Common Sense, 1776, Introduction
“Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of the origin and design of government in general, with concise remarks on the English Constitution.”
“The strength of one man is so unequal to his wants, and his mind so
unfitted for perpetual solitude, that he is soon obliged to seek assistance
and relief of another”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of the origin and design of government in general, with concise remarks on the English Constitution.”
“Nothing but heaven is impregnable to vice.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of the origin and design of government in general, with concise remarks on the English Constitution.”
“Oppression is often the consequence, but seldom or never the means of
riches; and though avarice will preserve a man from being necessitously poor, it
generally makes him too timorous to be wealthy.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of monarchy and hereditary succession.”
“For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right
to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of monarchy and hereditary succession.”
“Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God,
than all the crowned ruffians that every lived.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of monarchy and hereditary succession.”
“Youth is the seed time of good habits, as well in nations as in individuals.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneous reflexions.”
“As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of all government,
to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business
which government hath to do therewith.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneous reflexions.”
“Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.”
Common Sense, 1776, “Of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneous reflexions.”
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the
sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country;
but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of men and women.”
The Crisis, 1776, Introduction
Featured Books
The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
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Rights of Man and Common Sense Hardcover – Two of the most influential
pamphlets written by Thomas Paine. They are available online through other
avenues, but I’m fully convinced that every library should have a copy of these.
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Thomas Paine : Collected Writings Hardcover – Or if you prefer, this
selection contains almost all of his work. It includes Common Sense, The
Crisis, Rights of Man, The Age of Reason, and other pamphlets, articles,
and letters. 906 pages of philosophy from the American and French Revolutions.
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Thomas Paine Videocassette VHS Tape by Carl Shapiro – Originally aired on
Cable TV, this 40 minute video discusses Thomas Paine’s works and life.
For more information about Thomas Paine, try these links:
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Biography of Thomas Paine – A concise biography of his life by Benni Leemhuis.
Although it tends to idolize him a bit, all the facts are listed.
Common Sense – The full text divided into its four chapters and introduction
are available for your reading pleasure. Provided by Bartleby Archive.
The Age of Paine – A glowing discussion of Thomas Paine and how his spirit
lives on in the Internet presented by Jon Katz and Wired Magazine.
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December 15th, 1997 by Laura Moncur in Biography
I’m not a frilly girl. I don’t like dresses or pretty things. I fantasize
about setting fires more than men. I enjoy learning about hoaxes and
scams much more than learning about manners and correct speech. I find no
interest in romance, because I’m too busy accruing interest in finance. I enjoy my
life as a woman who can do whatever she wants in this world. Why, then, do I
like Jane Austen’s novels?
I believe that the appeal of her work to me is the incredible wittiness of her
women. I try to be funny, but fail most of the time. I find the notion of wonderfully
witty women in a society where politeness is crucial so pleasing that I have read
many of her novels more than once. I’m hoping to catch her characters making fools of
others to their faces, with humor and hidden rancor, in ways I didn’t notice
before. Here are a few of the best quotes from Jane Austen in celebration of her
birthday.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity, the most
unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress.”
- letter to James Stanier Clarke, 11 Dec 1815
“Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by
preparation, foolish preparations.”
“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me that trouble of
liking them a great deal.”
letter to her sister, Cassandra, 24 Dec 1798
“One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on
something witty.”
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession
of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Pride and Prejudice, 1813
“It was a delightful visit – perfect, in being much too short.”
Emma, 1815
“Real solemn history, I cannot be interested in…The quarrels of popes
and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for
nothing, and hardly any women at all.”
Northanger Abbey, Chapter 14
“‘I am afraid,’ replied Elinor, ‘that the pleasantness of an employment
does not always evince it propriety.’”
Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 13
“You have delighted us long enough.”
Pride and Prejudice, 1813
The nicest way to say, “Shut up,” I’ve ever read.
“Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does.”
Emma, 1815
“[Miss Austen] had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings
and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with.
The Big Bow-Wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite
touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting,
from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me.”
Walter Scott, Journal entry, 14 March 1826
“Just the omission of Jane Austen’s books alone would make a fairly good
library out of a library that hadn’t a book in it.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
I guess not everyone loves her the way I do.
For more information about Jane Austen, try these links:
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Jane Austen Film & Television Adaptations – A site with lovely pictures from
the film versions of Jane Austen’s work. There are many images to download and
a list of other links.
- The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
-
Best of Jane Austen boxed paperback set that includes: Emma, Persuasion,
Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. A good starting set.
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The Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen Paperback by Jane Austen, Penelope
Hughes-Hallett (Editor). Beautiful pictures accompany Jane Austen’s letters.
She was rather candid in her letters to her sister Cassandra, which are the
best.
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Jane Austen’s Little Advice Book Hardcover by Jane Austen, Cathryn Michon,
Pamela Norris, David Johnson. Quotations from Jane Austen regarding Men, Women,
Money, Marriage, and Social Life. If you liked her quotes, you’ll love this
book with additional witty commentary from the authors listed above.
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Pride and Prejudice VHS Video Edition, Published by A & E HOME VIDEO. I
must admit that this rendition of Pride and Prejudice is what started it all
for me. Seeing Jennifer Ehle play the feisty Elizabeth Bennett made me love
Jane Austen. Colin Firth plays a dark and brooding Mr. Darcy with curly locks
and glaring glances. I bought this set at full price and it was well worth it.
Amazon.com is offering it for $10 buck cheaper at $89.99.
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Jane Austen Home Page – a collection of links and the actual works of Jane
Austen available for download.
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Jane Austen Information Page – A huge collection of texts of Jane Austen’s
works, commentary, silly jokes and pictures of the authoress. This site is
enormous, but doesn’t take itself too seriously.
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November 30th, 1997 by Laura Moncur in Biography
Few people living in The United States have not been exposed to Mark Twain. Born
Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30th, 1835, Mark Twain was one of the more
influential writers of America. Known as a wit, his writing career began at age 12.
He started writing for “The Hannibal Journal” at that time. He penned such books
as “Tom Sawyer,” “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” and “The Prince and
the Pauper.”
The following are just a small sampling of the great things that Mark Twain either
said or wrote. I’ve also included some links to more quotes than you can shake a
stick at. Enjoy!
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
- Note to London corresondent of the New York Journal, June 1, 1897
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
“Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.”
Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894
“Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as
if she had laid an asteroid.”
Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894
“Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.”
Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894
“I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take
him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.”
“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.”
Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894
“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t
read them.”
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t
know.”
Letter to William Dean Howells, December, 1877
“Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to
prayer.”
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
Card sent to the Young People’s Society, Greenpoint Presbyterian Church,
Brooklyn, February 16, 1901
For more information about Mark Twain, try these links:
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