Biography Quotes 

[L]ife, individual or collective, personal or historic, is the one entity in the universe whose substance is compact of danger, of adventure. It is, in the strict sense of the word, drama. … [T]he primary, radical meaning of life appears when it is employed in the sense not of biology, but of biography. For the very strong reason that the whole of biology is quite definitely only a chapter in certain biographies, it is what biologists do in the portion of their lives open to biography.
José Ortega Y Gasset
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More Biography Quotes 

In writing biography, fact and fiction shouldn't be mixed. And if they are, the fiction parts should be printed in red ink, the fact parts in black ink.

Catherine Drinker bowen

— 1958  In Publisher's Weekly, 24 Mar. Bowen's biographies were frequently partly fictionalized.

Tags: writing, fact, fiction, shouldn't, mixed, parts, printed, red, ink

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Lockhart's Life of Walter Scott may be said to be the most admirable biography in the English language, after Boswell's Samuel Johnson.

john gibson lockhart

— Joseph Collins The Doctor Looks at Biography (New York: George H. Doran, 1925) p. 25.

Tags: Life, Walter, Scott, may, most, admirable, English, language, after

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But for a few phrases from his letters and an odd line or two of his verse, the poet walks gagged through his own biography.

john updike

— On T. S. Eliot (1984) by Peter Ackroyd, in which the Eliot estate forbade quotation from Eliot’s books and letters, The New Yorker (25 March 1985)

Tags: few, phrases, letters, odd, line, two, verse, poet, walks

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There is no heroic poem in the world but is at bottom a biography, the life of a man; also it may be said, there is no life of a man, faithfully recorded, but is a heroic poem of its sort, rhymed or unrhymed.

thomas carlyle

— Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter Scott. London and Westminster Review, 1838.

Tags: There, heroic, poem, world, bottom, life, man, may, faithfully

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There is properly no history, only biography.

ralph waldo emerson

— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, History.

Tags: There, properly, history

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The art of biography Is different from Geography. Geography is about Maps, But biography is about Chaps.

Edmund Clerihew Bentley

— 1905  Biography for Beginners, introduction.

Tags: art, different, Geography, Maps

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Scientologists are at war with a member of their own family - the outspoken niece of the church's powerful leader, David Miscavige. Jenna Hill Miscavige, 24, the daughter of David's older brother Ron, recently came out in support of Andrew Morton's "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized biography," and slammed the star for "supporting a religion that tears apart families, both in the media and monetarily." Since then, Jenna claims she's been subjected to harassment.

david miscavige

— "Family Feud In Tom's Church". New York Post (NYP Holdings, Inc). February 6, 2008. Retrieved on 2010-07-03. 

Tags: Scientologists, war, member, own, family, outspoken, niece, church's, powerful

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How gently, wisely, and justly G MYoung deals with him. That is not the way to write biography.

Dean Gooderham Acheson

— Collected in David S McClellan and David C  Acheson (eds) Among Friends: Personal Letters of Dean Gooderham  Acheson (1980). OnYoung's biography Stanley Baldwin (1952).

Tags: gently, wisely, justly, G, deals, him, write

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It is unlikely that anyone will write his biography, but he will be enshrined in10,000 indexes.

Henry Southworth Allen

— 1989  Of Brent Scowcroft, National Security Council adviser to George Bush. In the Washington Post, 3  Jan.

Tags: unlikely, write, enshrined, indexes

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Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.


— 1832  Contarini Fleming, pt.1, ch.23.

Tags: Read, history, nothing, life, without, theory

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There is properly no history; only biography.


— 1841Essays: First Series,'History'.

Tags: There, properly, history

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No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history and of their intersections within a society has completed its intellectual journey.


— 1959  The Sociological Imagination, ch.1.

Tags: social, study, problems, history, intersections, within, society, completed, intellectual

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What's bad about my biography? My father was a worker, my brothers, too, and I have always honestly served my country.

hovhannes bagramyan

— Quoted in "The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad" - Page 112 - by Harrison E. Salisbury - History - 2003

Tags: bad, father, worker, brothers, honestly, served, country

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She doesn't get to say much in the official biography —I believe they are out of wine, etc.,practical things —watching with one eye as he goes about the worldcalling himself The Son Of Man.

anne carson

— "God's Mother", Glass, Irony, and God, New Directions (New York, NY), 1995

Tags: official, believe, wine, things, watching, one, eye, himself, Son

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The biography of a minister is bound to be a work of moral and political importance.

francisco luís gomes

— Le Marquis de Pombal, p. 5

Tags: minister, bound, work, moral, political, importance

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Brief biography at The Center for International Education

Eugene McCarthy

— I'm Sorry I Was Right

Tags: Brief, Center, International, Education

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Brief biography at the Guelph Civic Museum biography at the Dictionary of Canadian biography Online Works by John McCrae at Project Gutenberg

john mccrae

— Free eBook of In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems at Project Gutenberg

Tags: Brief, Museum, Dictionary, Canadian, Online, Works, John, Project, Gutenberg

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Unselfish and noble acts are the most radiant epochs in the biography of souls.

thomas david

— P. 4. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: Unselfish, noble, acts, most, radiant, epochs, souls

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D.M. Turner: 1962-1997 Brief biography at Erowid.org

d.m. turner

— In Memory of D.M.Turner

Tags: Turner, Brief

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Jonathan Wells biography from the Discovery Institute

jonathan wells

— Articles by Wells from the Discovery Institute

Tags: Jonathan, Wells, Discovery, Institute

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Obituary at The National Academies Press Nobelprize.org biography Roger W. Sperry - Autobiography The Roger W. Sperry Site

roger wolcott sperry

— A Timeline of the Published Works of Roger W. Sperry

Tags: National, Academies, Press, Roger, Sperry, Autobiography, Site

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In these days a man is nobody unless his biography is kept so far posted up that it may be ready for the national breakfast-table on the morning after his demise.

Anthony Trollope

— Ch. 25 (Doctor Thorne (1858))

Tags: days, man, nobody, kept, far, posted, may, ready, national

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May I therefore acknowledge the tender glow of health induced by reading, as I sat here in the morning sun, the flattering attention paid me by your gentleman of ready wreath and quick biography!

Whistler

— After a Dutch newspaper prematurely reported his death in 1902

Tags: May, acknowledge, tender, glow, health, induced, reading, sat, here

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Unselfish and noble acts are the most radiant epochs in the biography of souls.


— David Thomas, p. 4. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: Unselfish, noble, acts, most, radiant, epochs, souls

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For there is no heroic poem in the world but is at bottom a biography, the life of a man; also, it may be said, there is no life of a man, faithfully recorded, but is a heroic poem of its sort, rhymed or unrhymed.

thomas carlyle

— Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter Scott, in London and Westminster Review (1838).

Tags: there, heroic, poem, world, bottom, life, man, may, faithfully

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Wales was criticized in 2005 for editing his own biography in Wikipedia, downplaying the pornographic nature of Bomis and minimizing Sanger's role as cofounder of Wikipedia.


— Harry Henderson (2008). Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology. Facts on File. p. 500. ISBN 1438110030. 

Tags: Wales, criticized, editing, own, Wikipedia, pornographic, nature, Bomis, minimizing

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MacTutor Profile at University of St. Andrews William Thomson's biography Lord Kelvin online

william thomson

— Lord Kelvin Exhibit: Image and Reality
Kelvin Society of Glasgow

Tags: Profile, University, St, Thomson's, Lord, Kelvin, online

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Anthony Lewis's Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A biography of the First Amendment offers a lucid and engaging overview of American free-speech law. The former Nieman Fellow has twice won the Pulitzer Prize, and this volume puts the skills that earned him those accolades much on display. Again and again, he brings to life the dramatis personae in leading cases, plucks out moving or telling quotations, and explains who won and who lost in order to provide a clear introduction to First Amendment doctrine.


— Richard H. Fallon (May-June 2008). "Book Review - Freeing Speech - How judge-made law gave meaning to the First Amendment". Harvard Magazine (Harvard Magazine Inc.). Retrieved on November 6, 2012. 

Tags: Anthony, Freedom, Thought, We, Hate, First, Amendment, offers, lucid

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Anthony Lewis' Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A biography of the First Amendment is a succinct and eloquent account of our nation's history of struggle with this seemingly simple concept of freedom of expression. As we know, it is not simple, and the struggle continues. Lewis presents the conflicts inherent in this guarantee of free speech and a free press and makes clear the complexities and implications of our evolving interpretation.


— Anne Phillips (September 20, 2009). The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois: The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette): p. F–3. 

Tags: Anthony, Lewis', Freedom, Thought, We, Hate, First, Amendment, succinct

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