- Jean-Baptiste Molière died on 2/17/1673. “Things are only worth what one makes them worth.” (The School for Wives; Tartuffe; The Misanthrope; Amphitryon)
- Heinrich Heine died on 2/17/1856. “Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.” (The North Sea: Cycle I and II; The Town of Lucca; The Salon I)
- Dorothy Canfield Fisher was born on 2/17/1879. “Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.” (The Bent Twig; Her Son’s Wife; Seasoned Timber)
- Audre Lord was born on 2/18/1934. “If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” (The First Cities; Coal; The Cancer Journals)
- André Breton was born on 2/19/1896. “Words make love with one another.” (Surrealist Manifesto; A Corpse; Nadja; The Automatic Message)
- Carson McCullers was born on 2/19/1917. “I live with the people I create and it has always made my essential loneliness less keen.” (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter; Reflections in a Golden Eye; The Member of the Wedding)
- André Gide died on 2/19/1951. “To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do with one’s freedom.” (The Fruits of the Earth; The Immoralist; Strait is the Gait; Corydon)
- Knut Hamsun died on 2/19/1952. “I can’t even make up a rhyme about an umbrella, let alone death and life and eternal peace.” (Hunger; Mysteries; Pan; In Wonderland; On Overgrown Paths)
- Hunter S. Thompson died on 2/20/2005. “The Edge…there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; The Rum Diary)
- Anaïs Nin was born on 2/21/1903. “The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.” (Under a Glass Bell; Delta of Venus)
- W.H. Auden was born on 2/21/1907. “We all have these places where shy humiliations gambol on sunny afternoons.” (The Dance of Death; Letters from Iceland; The Double Man; About the House; Thank You, Fog: Last Poems)
Molière
Heinrich Heine by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, 1831
André Breton, 1923
André Gide, 1893
Knut Hamsun, 1890
Anaïs Nin
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.
Not just a blog, a philosophy
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 
I read once that there are more Aquarians that have on the Nobel Prize than any other horoscope sign. I also read that there are more Aquarians in nut houses than any other sign.
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That is quite fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
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Audre Lord for me this time. Although, I really love the Auden quote too!
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Yes, Audre wins this round for me, too!
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The Knut Hamsun quote wins it for me today. I know whereof he speaks.
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Audre’s is my fave this round, but I think the Knut Hamsun quote is true for most of us!
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