“Many a happiness in life, as many a disaster, can be due to chance, but the peace within us can never be governed by chance.”

Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist

Maurice Maeterlinck was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist, born in 1862 and died in 1949. A Flemish writer who worked in French, he became known for his place in Symbolist drama and for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. He was a leading member of La Jeune Belgique, and his plays are an important part of the Symbolist movement. His work often turns to death and the meaning of life, and later in life he faced credible accusations of plagiarism.