Literary Birthday – 20 March – Isabel Burton

Isabel Burton was born on 20 March 1831 and died on 22 March 1896.

Isabel Burton Quotes

1. Where I have seen good I shall speak of it with pleasure, and where I have seen the reverse, I shall try to be silent; for a book is meant to give pleasure, and pain that is inflicted in black and white lasts for ever.
2. I must just think aloud, so as not to keep the public waiting.
3. People of delicate health, selfish dispositions, and coarse minds, can always bear the sufferings of others placidly.
4. He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool — shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not: he is simple — teach him.
5. I have no leisure to think of style or of polish, or to select the best language, the best English – no time to shine as an authoress. I must just think aloud, so as not to keep the public waiting.

Lady Isabel Burton was an English writer. She was the wife and partner of explorer, adventurer, and writer Sir Richard Francis Burton. He encouraged her to write on her own account. The inner life of Syria, Palestine, and the Holy land : from my private journal (2 vols. 1875; 2nd edit. 1879) and Arabia, Egypt, India: a narrative of travel (1879) are mainly her work, with contributions from her husband. She is the author of The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton: The Story of Her Life and The Life of Captain Sir Richd F. Burton.

Source for quotes
Source for image: Chevelier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isabel_Burton-1861.jpg

by Amanda Patterson

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