The renowned Black French writer Alexandre Dumas was born on today’s date in 1802. He is perhaps most famous for his novels The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, both of which are regarded as two of the greatest works in classic literature.
Dumas also composed a number of essays, plays, articles, and short stories. His fantasy novel entitled The Wolf Leader is believed to be one of the earliest books featuring werewolves. According to BlackPast, Dumas received the Légion d’honneur (Legion of Honour) in 1894, which is “France’s highest civilian honor.”
To remember and celebrate the late Dumas on what would’ve been his 219th birthday, here are fifteen of his most significant quotes!
“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall.”
“All human wisdom is contained in these two words – Wait and Hope.”
“Woman is sacred; the woman one loves is holy.”
“The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates.”
“As a general rule…people ask for advice only in order not to follow it; or if they do follow it, in order to have someone to blame for giving it.”
“Women are never so strong as after their defeat.”
“One’s work may be finished someday, but one’s education never.”
“Happiness is like those palaces in fairytales whose gates are guarded by dragons: We must fight in order to conquer it.”
“When you compare the sorrows of real life to the pleasures of the imaginary one, you will never want to live again, only to dream forever.”
“Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures.”
“All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.”
“Often we pass beside happiness without seeing it, without looking at it, or even if we have seen and looked at it, without recognizing it.”
“Ah, lips that say one thing, while the heart thinks another.”
“I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol.”
“There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body’s sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.”