Literary Birthday – 11 September – D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence was born on 11 September 1885 and died on 2 March 1930.

D.H. Lawrence Quotes

1. But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions.
2. I want to go south, where there is no autumn, where the cold doesn’t crouch over one like a snow leopard waiting to pounce. The heart of the North is dead, and the fingers of cold are corpse fingers.
3. Every man has a mob self and an individual self, in varying proportions.
4. I hold that the parentheses are by far the most important parts of a non-business letter.
5. I can never decide whether my dreams are the result of my thoughts, or my thoughts the result of my dreams.
6. Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.
7. Creation destroys as it goes, throws down one tree for the rise of another. But ideal mankind would abolish death, multiply itself million upon million, rear up city upon city, save every parasite alive, until the accumulation of mere existence is swollen to a horror.
8. Don’t be on the side of the angels, it’s too lowering.
9. I like to write when I feel spiteful. It is like having a good sneeze.
10. Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description.
11. Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration.
12. I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets.

D. H. Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, travel writer, essayist, literary critic, and painter. He was one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century. Lawrence was a prolific letter writer. More than 1,000 of his letters survive, offering insights into his relationships, travels, ideas, and writing. They are considered an important part of his literary legacy. His best-known novels include Sons and Lovers (1913), The Rainbow (1915), and Women in Love (1920). His work often explored relationships, sexuality, class, and the conflict between human instincts and modern society. Lawrence became a controversial figure with Lady Chatterley’s Lover The novel’s frank treatment of sex and class was pioneering for its time. Lawrence was also deeply concerned about the effects of industrialisation on people. He believed modern life could separate people from their instincts and from each other, but that passion and human connection could offer a path towards renewal.

Source for screenshot: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D_H_Lawrence_passport_photograph.jpg

by Amanda Patterson
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