Alexandre Dumas, père, 1802 - 1870
Photo by Nadar, November 1855
Born: 24 July 1802, Villers-Cotterêts, Aisne, France
Died: 5 December 1870, Puys (near Dieppe, Seine-Maritime), France
Born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, Alexandre Dumas, père was the grandson of a French nobleman and a Haitian slave and the son of one of Napoleon's generals. His family fell into disfavor and his father died when he was young, but his mother's tales of his father's heroism during the Napoleonic Wars fueled his appetite for tales of adventure and he grew up reading constantly.
In 1822, after the restoration of the French monarchy, Dumas worked in an office at the Palais Royal by day and wrote magazine articles and plays during his free time. His first play, Henry III and His Court, was produced in 1829, and he went on to write several more successful plays, quitting his job to write full-time. He participated in the 1830 Revolution which led to the ouster of Charles X and helped set up his former employer, the Duke of Orléans, as Louise-Philippe, the Citizen King.
In 1838, he turned his hand to writing serial novels, published in parts in the newspapers of the time, and formed a production studio that created hundreds of serial novels. From 1839 until 1841 he and several friends produced Celebrated Crimes, an eight-volume series of essays about famous criminals and crimes of European history. In 1840, he published The Fencing Master, a novel based on the experiences of Augustin Grisier in the Decembrist Revolution in Russia. This novel, and its author, were banned in Russia until the death of Czar Nicholas I.
In 1851, Dumas fled France to escape his creditors. He traveled to Belgium and Russia and then to Italy, where he became involved in creating a united Italy. He returned to France in 1864. Despite his literary success, Dumas spent most of his life in debt, thanks to his womanizing and love of luxury. His home was usually inhabited by a motley crew of strangers and acquaintances, and he had at least four illegitimate children, the best-known of whom followed in his footsteps to become the playwright and novelist Alexandre Dumas, fils.
Biography from Wikipedia and Authors' Calendar
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
Alexandre Dumas, père quotes:
Quotes found : 93 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 7) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
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- A man is bound to make for himself in this world, that fortune which heaven had refused him at his birth. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - The Man in the Iron Mask (1847) - A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - A rogue does not laugh in the same way that an honest man does; a hypocrite does not shed the tears of a man of good faith. All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) (1844) - A weakened mind always sees everything through a black veil. The soul makes its own horizons; your soul is dark, which is why you see such a cloudy sky. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Le comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) (1845-1846) - A woman's heart is as intricate as a raveled skein of silk. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - All falsehood is a mask, and however well-made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - All for one, one for all, that is our device, is it not? permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) (1844) - All human wisdom is summed up in these two words: Wait and Hope. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Le comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) (1845-1846) - And now, farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude. I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Le comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) (1845-1846) - Art needs solitude or misery or passion. Lukewarm zephyrs wilt it. It is a rock-flower flourishing by stormy blasts in stony soil. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - 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. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) (1844) - Business? It's quite simple; it's other people's money. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Capricious and unfaithful, the king wished to be called Louis the Just and Louis the Chaste. Posterity will find a difficulty in understanding this character, which history explains only by facts and never by reason. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) (1844) - Does the open wound in another's breast soften the pain of the gaping wound in our own? Or does the blood which is welling from another man's side staunch that which is pouring from our own? Does the general anguish of our fellow creatures lessen our own private and particular anguish? No, no, each suffers on his own account, each struggles with his own grief, each sheds his own tears. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - The Man in the Iron Mask (1847) - Eh, gentlemen, let us reckon upon accidents! Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile. Be philosophers, as I am, gentlemen; sit down at the table and let us drink. Nothing makes the future look so bright as surveying it through a glass of chambertin. permalink
Alexandre Dumas, père - Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) (1844)
Quotes found : 93 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 7) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
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