Literary Birthday – 3 April – Washington Irving

Washington Irving was born on 3 April 1783 and died on 28 November 1859.

Washington Irving Quotes

1. The tongue is the only tool that gets sharper with use.
2. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
3. There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.
4. Others may write from the head, but he writes from the heart, and the heart will always understand him.
5. He is the true enchanter, whose spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart.
6. The land of literature is a fairy land to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, the charm fades on a nearer approach, and the thorns and briars become visible.
7. There is never jealousy where there is not strong regard.
8. A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.
9. History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet: the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns, arches, pyramids, what are they but heaps of sand; and their epitaphs, but characters written in the dust?

Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer, and historian. Irving is remembered for his fictional works, including Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which have been called the first American short stories. He was described as the ‘first American man of letters’. He also wrote biographies and historical non-fiction. He was one of the first noted American authors to be highly acclaimed in Europe during his lifetime and he served as the United States ambassador to Spain where he promoted international copyright. After his return to the United States, he continued to write, producing works such as A Tour of the Prairies, Astoria, and The Adventures of Captain Bonneville. Many of Irving’s works have inspired adaptations to the stage and film.

Source for image: Mathew Benjamin Brady, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Irving-Washington-LOC.jpg

by Amanda Patterson

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