William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811 - 1863
Portrait by Jesse Harrison Whitehurst, ca. 1855
Born: 18 July 1811, Calcutta, British Indian Empire
Died: 24 December 1863, London, England, UK
Thackeray's father Richmond was a secretary for the board of revenue of the East India Company at Calcutta, when William was born Richmond's daughter by his mistress was seven, and Richmond had been married for just over nine months. After Richmond's death, William was sent to England and educated at Charterhouse (which he later parodied as "Slaughterhouse") in Surrey and Trinity College, Cambridge, although he never completed a degree. After traveling for a time he returned to London and studied law briefly before coming into his inheritance, which he lost most of by gambling and trying to start two newspapers, the rest was lost when the Indian banks failed. Three years later he married and began writing prolifically to make ends meet. The wrote extensively for Fraser's Magazine, including art criticism, short fictional pieces, and two of his early novels, then began writing for the new Punch. After his third daughter died his wife went into a deep depression, ending up in an institution and outliving him by three decades. He wrote both under his own name as well as such charming pseudonyms as Charles James Yellowplush, Michael Angelo Titmarsh, and George Savage FitzBoodle. From 1847 when Vanity Fair was serialized he became a celebrity, sought out by the cream of society which he was so deftly skewering. His health, never consistently good, declined in the 1850s, and he was found fully dressed on his bed having suffered a stroke the night before. His funeral was attended by over 7,000 mourners, including his friend and rival Charles Dickens.
Biography from Wikipedia and Authors' Calendar
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William Makepeace Thackeray quotes:
Quotes found : 69 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 5) 1 2 3 4 5 Next
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- 'Tis misfortune that awakens ingenuity, or fortitude, or endurance, in hearts where these qualities had never come to life but for the circumstance which gave them a being. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Henry Esmond (1852) - 'Tis not the dying for a faith that's so hard, Master Harry — every man of every nation has done that — 'tis the living up to it that is difficult, as I know to my cost. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Henry Esmond (1852) - 'Tis strange what a man may do, and a woman yet think him an angel. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Henry Esmond (1852) - A clever, ugly man every now and then is successful with the ladies, but a handsome fool is irresistible. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - A good laugh is sunshine in the house. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - A person can't help their birth. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair (1848) - A woman may possess the wisdom and chastity of Minerva, and we give no heed to her, if she has a plain face. What folly will not a pair of bright eyes make pardonable? What dullness may not red lips and sweet accents render pleasant? And so, with their usual sense of justice, ladies argue that because a woman is handsome, therefore she is a fool. O ladies, ladies! There are some of you who are neither handsome nor wise. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair (1848) - All is vanity, nothing is fair. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair (1848) - An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - And whenever he spoke (which he did almost always), he took care to produce the very finest and longest words of which the vocabulary gave him the use, rightly judging that it was as cheap to employ a handsome, large, and sonorous epithet, as to use a little stingy one. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair (1848) - As the gambler said of his dice, to love and win is the best thing, to love and lose is the next best. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - The History of Pendennis (1850) - Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world always yields; or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and it will succumb. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844) - Bravery never goes out of fashion. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - The Four Georges (1860) - Despair is perfectly compatible with a good dinner, I promise you. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray - Lovel the Widower (1860) - Dinner was made for eating, not for talking. permalink
William Makepeace Thackeray
Quotes found : 69 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 5) 1 2 3 4 5 Next
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