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Laurence Housman Quotes

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About Laurence Housman

**Laurence Housman** (March 14, 1865 – February 30, 1959) was a prominent English author, artist, and dramatist known for his significant contributions to the world of literature and theatre. Born in London, he was the younger brother of renowned writer and artist, William Morris Housman. Raised in an intellectual environment that fostered creativity, Laurence attended Marlborough College before studying at Oxford University. However, he did not complete his degree due to his interest in art and theatre. His early works were often inspired by his brother's socialist and Arthurian themes, but Laurence developed his unique style over time. Laurence Housman is best known for his plays, novels, and poetry that explored themes of love, beauty, and the supernatural. His work was heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the mystical traditions of the Anglican Church, reflecting in works such as "A Dreamer's Tales" (1893), a collection of fantasy stories, and "Shalimar" (1902), a novel that blends love, spirituality, and Eastern mysticism. Housman also made significant contributions to the theatre. His most famous play, "Victoria Regina" (1934), was a controversial but successful portrayal of Queen Victoria's life. The play was performed in London, New York, and other major cities around the world. Throughout his long and prolific career, Laurence Housman received numerous honors, including being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946. His work continues to be celebrated for its beauty, depth, and enduring appeal. Despite passing away in 1959, Laurence Housman's literary legacy remains a significant part of English literature.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

This quote by Laurence Housman suggests that despite our common struggles or circumstances (being "in the gutter"), there's a diversity in perspective and aspirations among individuals ("some of us are looking at the stars"). It emphasizes that while we may share hardships, some people choose to maintain hope, optimism, and ambition by focusing on higher goals or ideals, which can lead to personal growth and progress.

"The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness."

This quote suggests a profound acceptance and understanding of life's inherent complexity and unpredictability. It implies that true wisdom lies in recognizing and embracing the fact that one may not always be happy, yet still find contentment and meaning in existence itself. This understanding can lead to a more resilient and adaptive approach to life, fostering emotional stability even amidst adversity.

"Life is a great surprise every hour."

The quote "Life is a great surprise every hour" by Laurence Housman emphasizes the unpredictable, fascinating, and ever-evolving nature of life itself. Every moment holds a new potential for unexpected events, discoveries, or encounters, making each hour an exciting adventure waiting to unfold. This perspective invites us to embrace the unknown with curiosity, flexibility, and openness, celebrating the diversity and spontaneity that make life so captivating.

"The only way to avoid being unhappy is to go around with your eyes closed and live in an eternal childhood."

This quote by Laurence Housman suggests that avoiding unhappiness isn't about escaping reality or perpetually staying in a state of innocence. Instead, it implies that one should face life openly, acknowledge its complexities, and grow as an individual to find contentment and joy. Living with open eyes allows us to appreciate the world around us, learn from our experiences, and mature in our understanding and response to life's challenges. Eternal childhood, on the other hand, refers to a state of immaturity and ignorance that can lead to a lack of fulfillment and personal growth.

"Never think too much, for when one does that, one begins to sweat."

This quote suggests that overthinking leads to anxiety or mental stress, akin to sweating physically. It encourages a more carefree approach to life, advocating for trusting intuition and instincts rather than excessively analyzing situations or decisions. In other words, too much thought can cause distress, so it's important to find balance between thinking and acting.

Life is the most versatile thing under the sun; and in the pursuit of life and character the author who works in a groove works in blinkers.

- Laurence Housman

Pursuit, Works, Author, Versatile

Prosecution I have managed to avoid; but I have been arrested, charged in a police court, have refused to be bound over, and thereupon have been unconditionally released - to my great regret; for I have always wanted to know what going to prison was like.

- Laurence Housman

Always, Over, Been, Prosecution

The man who bears my name, and who claims to be me, was born on July 15, 1865, the sixth in a family of seven. He was an ugly child, and remained ugly till his eighteenth year, when his looks gradually improved.

- Laurence Housman

Seven, Year, Till, Claims

My best chance is that, in a happy moment, I hit upon St Francis as the subject for a series of plays. Others might have written them better: but, as I have written them, the advantage will probably remain mine.

- Laurence Housman

Chance, Mine, Plays, Francis

Two more years were to go by before I knew anything about William Blake. Many years later, when his wife died, my godfather gave me the two books as a remembrance.

- Laurence Housman

Before, About, Died, Blake

The mere dates of my existence do not interest me, except in one connection. When the Great War started I was too old to be acceptable as a volunteer; when conscription followed I was too old to be conscripted.

- Laurence Housman

Existence, Old, Acceptable, Great War

I had never thought of myself as a dramatist, and, for really good technical results, the thought came too late: a man of letters has become too wordy to write economically for the stage.

- Laurence Housman

Thought, Too Late, Technical, Letters

I have always been a writer of letters, and of long ones; so, when I first thought of writing a book in the form of letters, I knew that I could do it quickly and easily.

- Laurence Housman

Thought, Always, Been, Letters

If I loved all the world as I do you, I shouldn't write books to it: I should only write letters to it, and that would be only a clumsy stage on the way to entire telepathy.

- Laurence Housman

Romantic, Way, All The World, Letters

On that other novels followed: but I still wrote fairy tales and dreamy poems of another world.

- Laurence Housman

Other, Still, Wrote, Novels

That was luck: I should not then have been a conscientious objector; but I am quite sure that the abominations of war would have made me one, as soon as I got to the front.

- Laurence Housman

Luck, Been, Sure, Conscientious

I was just then going through a healthy reaction from the orthodoxy of my youth; religion had become for me not so much a possession as an obsession, which I was trying to throw off, and this iconoclastic tale of an imaginary tribe was the result.

- Laurence Housman

Through, Possession, Had, Iconoclastic

But it has also enabled me to find my feet as a lecturer and a reader of my own plays to audiences who like to hear them; and that experience of immediate appreciation gives greater pleasure and more stimulus towards further activity than even the most laudatory of reviews.

- Laurence Housman

Feet, Activity, Reader, Lecturer

I still think that if the human race, or even one nation, could only get right about its God the rest would follow.

- Laurence Housman

Rest, Think, Still, One Nation

I believe absolutely in love being the central motive force of the universe.

- Laurence Housman

Love, Central, Absolutely, Motive

For the last half of my life I have had the doubtful benefit of a brother whose literary reputation is much greater than my own.

- Laurence Housman

My Life, Last, Half, Doubtful

It is the sincerest thing I have written, caught by the drama of a soul struggling in the contrary toils of love and religion - death brought them into harmony.

- Laurence Housman

Love, Harmony, Caught, Sincerest

I shall not die young, for I am already near seventy: I may die old.

- Laurence Housman

I Am, Die, May, Near

Suicide is possible, but not probable; hanging, I trust, is even more unlikely; for I hope that, by the time I die, my countrymen will have become civilised enough to abolish capital punishment.

- Laurence Housman

Trust, Unlikely, By The Time, Hanging

My failure, during the first five or six years of my art training, to get set in the right direction, and the disappointment which it caused me, drove me the more persistently into writing as an alternative.

- Laurence Housman

Art, Six, Which, Right Direction

It was then, I think, that I discovered that the best way of bringing a medieval subject home to my generation was not to be medieval in its treatment.

- Laurence Housman

Generation, Think, Treatment, Medieval

It is right and natural that generous minds while in the twenties should think the books which try to reform the world's wrong the greatest of all.

- Laurence Housman

Think, Natural, Which, Generous

If I live for another ten years I shall probably have written all that I want to write.

- Laurence Housman

Want, Another, Shall, Ten Years

My brother used to say that I wrote faster than he could read. He wrote two books - of poems - better than all mine put together.

- Laurence Housman

Could, Mine, Read, Poems

The modern form of things had begun to appeal to me, also (as material for satire) politics, and the lives of the great and little, high up in the social scale.

- Laurence Housman

Politics, Social, Lives, Scale

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