Born this week
Sunday September 6th, 2026
H. L. Mencken
September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956
Legend: A lie that has attained the dignity of age.
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, critic of American life and culture, and ...
Theodor Adorno
September 11, 1903 – August 6, 1969
In the age of the individual's liquidation, the question of individuality must be raised anew.
Theodor W. Adorno was a German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society. He was a leading member ...
Leo Tolstoy
September 9, 1828 – November 20, 1910
It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, also known as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, philosopher and playwright who ...
Cyril Connolly
September 10, 1903 – November 26, 1974
Classical and romantic: private language of a family quarrel, a dead dispute over the distribution of emphasis between man and nature.
Cyril Vernon Connolly was a literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon and wrote Enemies of ...
Taylor Caldwell
September 7, 1900 – August 30, 1985
People are scared to death of dying. I am the opposite.
Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell was an Anglo-American novelist and prolific author of popular fiction, also known by the pen names ...
Elizabeth I
September 7, 1533 – March 24, 1603
I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.
Queen Elizabeth I claimed the English throne in 1558 at the age of 25. She ruled for 44 years, until her death in 1603. Elizabeth I was ...
Charles Kuralt
September 10, 1934 – July 4, 1997
It's best to leap into something you know you love. You might change your mind later, but that is the privilege of youth.
Charles Kuralt was an American journalist. He was most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on ...
Swami Sivananda
September 8, 1887 – July 14, 1963
The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Self-realization demands very great struggle.
Sivānanda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivānanda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in ...
O. Henry
September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910
If man knew how women pass the time when they are alone, they'd never marry.
William Sydney Porter, known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, ...
Malcolm De Chazal
September 12, 1902 – October 1981
Art is nature speeded up and God slowed down.
Malcolm de Chazal (12 September 1902- 1 October 1981) was a Mauritian writer, painter, and visionary, known especially for his ...
Frances Wright
September 6, 1795 – December 13, 1852
Equality is the soul of liberty there is, in fact, no liberty without it.
Frances Wright also widely known as Fanny Wright, was a Scottish-born lecturer, writer, freethinker, feminist, abolitionist, and social ...
Cesare Pavese
September 9, 1908 – August 27, 1950
The art of living is the art of knowing how to believe lies.
Cesare Pavese (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtʃeËzaɾe paˈveËze]) (9 September 1908 - 27 August 1950) was an Italian poet, ...
James Thomson
September 11, 1700 – August 27, 1748
More firm and sure the hand of courage strikes, when it obeys the watchful eye of caution.
James Thomson (11 September 1700 - 27 August 1748) was a Scottish poet and playwright, known for his masterpiece The Seasons and the lyrics ...
Charles Dudley Warner
September 12, 1829 – October 20, 1900
What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it.
Charles Dudley Warner (September 12, 1829 - October 20, 1900) was an American essayist, novelist, and friend of Mark Twain, with whom he ...
Patsy Cline
September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963
Boys, they can't take my refrigerator now. They'll never get my car now. I paid cash for 'em and they're mine, and I'm keepin' 'em!
Virginia Patterson Hensley, known professionally as Patsy Cline, was an American country music singer. Part of the early 1960s Nashville ...
Alfred Jarry
September 8, 1873 – November 1907
It is conventional to call 'monster' any blending of dissonant elements. I call 'monster' every original inexhaustible beauty.
Alfred Jarry was a French symbolist writer best known for coining the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Born in Laval, ...
David O. McKay
September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970
Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give.
David Oman McKay was the ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving from 1951 until his death. Ordained an ...
Tom Landry
September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000
Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.
Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in ...
Jane Addams
September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935
Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.
Jane Addams was a pioneer American settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and ...
Edith Sitwell
September 7, 1887 – December 9, 1964
I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.
Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. Like her brothers Osbert and ...
Elinor Wylie
September 7, 1885 – December 16, 1928
In masks outrageous and austere, The years go by in single file But none has merited my fear, And none has quite escaped my smile.
Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for ...
Buddy Holly
September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959
I'm not trying to stump anybody... it's the beauty of the language that I'm interested in.
Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American musician and singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. ...
Grandma Moses
September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961
I look back on my life like a good day's work, it was done and I am satisfied with it.
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known by her nickname of "Grandma Moses," was a renowned American folk artist. Having begun painting in ...
Joshua Chamberlain
September 8, 1828 – February 24, 1914
We know not of the future and cannot plan for it much.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, born as Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, was an American college professor from the State of Maine, who ...
Vinoba Bhave
September 11, 1895 – November 15, 1982
If a man achieves victory over this body, who in the world can exercise power over him? He who rules himself rules over the whole world.
Vinayak Narahari "Vinoba" Bhave was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called Acharya, he is best known for the ...
Arthur Holly Compton
September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962
My first feeling about the paper and the attitude is that it is absurd.
Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for his discovery of the Compton effect, which ...
Walter Martin
September 10, 1928 – June 26, 1989
A key to strengthening spiritual muscles and enduring hardship is finding strength in the Word of God.
Walter Ralston Martin, was an American Evangelical minister, author, and Christian apologist who founded the Christian Research Institute ...
Arthur Young
September 11, 1741 – April 12, 1820
God sleeps in the minerals, awakens in plants, walks in animals, and thinks in man.
Arthur Young (11 September 1741 - 12 April 1820) was an English writer on agriculture, economics and social statistics. Young was born in ...
Jesse Owens
September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980
For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist. Owens specialized in the ...