Author, Poet & Novelist Posters & Prints: “Jo...-”
for the literature, language arts and social studies classrooms, home schoolers, and scholars.

Author James Weldon Johnson Published First Book of Poetry in 1917, Photographic Print

James Weldon Johnson
b. 6-17-1871; Jacksonville, FL
d. 6-26-1938; Maine (car accident)

James Weldon Johnson was an author, educator, lawyer, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, songwriter, early civil rights organizer, and activist.

James Weldon Johnson quotes ~
• “Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God.”
• “The final measure of the greatness of all peoples is the amount and standard of the literature and all they have produced. The world does not know that a people is great until that people produces great literature and art.”
• “Labor is the fabled magician's wand, the philosopher's stone, and the cap of good fortune.”

Dr. Samuel Johnson
b. 9-18-1709; Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
d. 12-13-1784; London

Samuel Johnson, one of England's best known literary figures, was a noted essayist, poet, biographer, lexicographer and critic; he also was a teacher for a time. It is said he is the single most quoted English writer after Shakespeare, and owes his continued noteriety because of the Life of Johnson by James Boswell (1740-1795).

Samuel Johnson spent many years living in the home of diarist Hester Thrale and her husband; he also was long time friend with actor David Garrick, and formed “The Club” with friend and painter Joshua Reynolds that included Oliver Goldsmith and philosopher Edmund Burke. He was also acquainted with Hannah More.

Samuel Johnson suffered from a variety of maladies which included tuberculosis, gout, cancer, depression, and with what was later identified as Tourette syndrome.

Samuel Johnson quotes ~
• “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
• “A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.”
• “The law is the last result of human wisdom acting upon human experience for the benefit of the public.”
• “To push advantages too far is neither generous nor just.”
• “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.” (quote used by Hunter S. Thompson in preface to “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.”

• Samuel Johnson: The Major Works
• “Clear your mind of can't” quote poster

James Jones
b. 11-6-1921; Robinson, IL
d. 5-9-1977; Southampton, NY

Author James Jones is best remembered for known for “From Here to Eternity” and other novels exploring World War II and its aftermath. It is ranked #62 on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels.

FHTE, which was the winner of the National Book award in 1952, was made into a movie that won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Sinatra) and Best Supporting Actress (Donna Reed) in 1953.

• James Jones quote ~
“My grandfather had a saying he used to say to me when I was a kid ... ‘always remember that I'm always for you, but I'd rather be for you when you're right than when you're wrong.’ Well, that's the way I feel about America. There's no use trying to say we haven't done a lot of things that were bad. We have.”

Ben Jonson
b. 6-11-1572; London, England
d. 8-6-1637; Westminster, London

Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor Ben Jonson, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, and his lyric poems.

Jonson was friends with Thomas Nashe and Christopher Marlowe.

Ben Jonson quotes ~
• “Art hath an enemy called ignorance.”
• “If you be sick, your own thoughts make you sick.”
• “They that know no evil will suspect none.”

• Ben Jonson's Plays and Masques

James Joyce
b. 2-2-1882; Dublin, Ireland
d. 1-13-1941; Zurich

Writer and poet James Augustine Aloysius Joyce is widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and a key figure in the development of the modernist novel. Joyce is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922), the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939).

Joyce's daughter Lucia, who suffered from schizophrenia, sought treatment from Carl Gustav Jung, and in Finnegans Wake Joyce joked with Jung's concepts of anima and animus.

James Joyce quotes ~
• “A man's errors are his portals of discovery.”
• “Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.”
• “Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize.”
• “Three quarks for Muster Mark!”
• “Whatever spark of gift I possess has been transmitted to Lucia, and has kindled a fire in her brain.” – About his daughter, who was suffering from schizophrenia

About James Joyce ~
• “James Joyce - an essentially private man who wished his total indifference to public notice to be universally recognized.” ~ Tom Stoppard

• The Portable James Joyce