A biography for D. H. Lawrencehasn’t been written yet.
“For man, as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive.”
“All vital truth contains the memory of all that for which it is not true.”
“Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.”
“Towns oftener swamp one than carry one out onto the big ocean of life.”
“How beautiful maleness is, if it finds its right expression.”
“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.”
“I hate the actor and audience business. An author should be in among the crowd, kicking their shins or cheering them on to some mischief or merriment.”
“The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure.”
“Literature is a toil and a snare, a curse that bites deep.”
“The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread.”
“The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.”
“I can't bear art that you can walk round and admire. A book should be either a bandit or a rebel or a man in the crowd.”
“Reason is a supple nymph, and slippery as a fish by nature. She had as leave give her kiss to an absurdity any day, as to syllogistic truth. The absurdity may turn out truer.”
“All that we know is nothing, we are merely crammed wastepaper baskets, unless we are in touch with that which laughs at all our knowing.”
“Tragedy is like strong acid - it dissolves away all but the very gold of truth.”
“Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.”
“I like to write when I feel spiteful. It is like having a good sneeze.”
“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.”
“The great mass of humanity should never learn to read or write.”
“Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.”