[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fHj2HlFkEn3oGdp0yeQRC8MU4nbLx1Jjm2nDe7kPRoAQ":3,"$fLdE7FKP4IYiOUbtQ-2aLGdaczYTa2T1d2CABUzODjHc":52},{"author":4,"tags":51},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":10,"bio_jsonld":11,"slug":49,"image_url":50},211097,"Zoe Akins","Z",10,"The early decades of the twentieth century saw American literary culture expand across multiple forms, as writers in the United States worked simultaneously in theater, verse, and the emerging medium of film. Zoë Byrd Akins was among those who contributed to more than one of these forms, building a career that moved across the boundaries of a single genre.\n\nBorn on October 30, 1886, in Humansville, Akins was an American citizen who worked in the English language. She pursued writing in three distinct modes — as a poet, as a playwright, and as a screenwriter — a range that distinguished her among the writers of her era. Rather than concentrating her efforts within a single discipline, she produced work across verse, drama, and the screen over the course of her career.\n\nHer work as a playwright brought her to the attention of the most formally recognized body in American letters. The Pulitzer Prize committee awarded her the 1935 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Old Maid, placing her name among the laureates of that prize. The award stands as the most clearly documented public recognition of her contributions as a writer, and it remains the milestone by which her career in drama is most directly anchored in the historical record of American letters.\n\nAkins died on October 29, 1958, in Los Angeles — one day before what would have been her seventy-second birthday. She had been born in Humansville and died in Los Angeles, a trajectory that traces the geographic range of a career conducted across both theatrical and screenwriting contexts. The 1935 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for The Old Maid is the specific honor that the record confirms for her work as a playwright.","The early decades of the twentieth century saw American literary culture expand across multiple forms, as writers in the United States worked simultaneously in theater, verse, and the emerging medium of film. Zoë Byrd Akins was among those who contributed to more than one of these forms, building a career that moved across the boundaries of a single genre.",{"@graph":12,"@context":48},[13,25],{"@id":14,"name":6,"@type":15,"sameAs":16,"birthDate":22,"deathDate":23,"description":24},"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q227109","Person",[14,17,18,19,20,21],"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Akins","https://viaf.org/viaf/71653584/","https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85151668","https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL576953A","https://d-nb.info/gnd/119369877","1886-10-30","1958-10-29","Playwright, poet, author (1886–1958)",{"@type":26,"author":27,"headline":30,"isBasedOn":31,"mainEntity":32,"reviewedBy":33,"articleBody":9,"dateCreated":34,"dateModified":35,"additionalProperty":36,"creativeWorkStatus":47},"Article",{"name":28,"@type":29},"Editorial Team","Organization","Zoe Akins — biography",[14,17,19,20],{"@id":14},{"name":28,"@type":29},"2026-05-24T05:33:55.907772+00:00","2026-05-24T05:39:52.794005+00:00",[37,41,44],{"@type":38,"value":39,"propertyID":40},"PropertyValue","Q227109","wikidata",{"@type":38,"value":42,"propertyID":43},"1.000","factscore",{"@type":38,"value":45,"propertyID":46},"claude-sonnet-4-6-r1","draftModel","AI-drafted, auto-published","https://schema.org","zoe-akins",null,[],{"quotes":53,"pagination":117},[54,62,68,74,80,86,92,98,104,110],{"id":55,"quote_text":56,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":59,"source":60,"quote_tag":61,"commentary":50},3522214,"Shutting one’s eyes is an art, my dear. I suppose there’s no use trying to make you see that – but that’s the only way one can stay married.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":63,"quote_text":64,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":65,"source":66,"quote_tag":67,"commentary":50},3522207,"It’s all right to tell a wife the brutal truth, but you’ve got to go sort of easy with your lady-love.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":69,"quote_text":70,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":71,"source":72,"quote_tag":73,"commentary":50},3522200,"Even the great can have only their own sort of greatness.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":75,"quote_text":76,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":77,"source":78,"quote_tag":79,"commentary":50},3522199,"No one can ever help loving anyone.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":81,"quote_text":82,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":83,"source":84,"quote_tag":85,"commentary":50},3522193,"Work alone qualifies us for life.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":87,"quote_text":88,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":89,"source":90,"quote_tag":91,"commentary":50},3522185,"Nothing seems so tragic to one who is old as the death of one who is young, and this alone proves that life is a good thing.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":93,"quote_text":94,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":95,"source":96,"quote_tag":97,"commentary":50},3522174,"Forgetting is the cost of living cheerfully.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":99,"quote_text":100,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":101,"source":102,"quote_tag":103,"commentary":50},3522161,"To accuse is so easy that it is infamous to do so where proof is impossible!",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":105,"quote_text":106,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":107,"source":108,"quote_tag":109,"commentary":50},3522144,"It is much more exquisite to be blown from the tree as a flower than to be shaken down as a shriveled and bitter fruit.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":111,"quote_text":112,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":113,"source":114,"quote_tag":115,"commentary":116},3522136,"The success-haters. That’s what I call them – the people who have never got what they want and turned sour on everybody who has. The world’s full of them. As soon as you’ve made good they begin to watch for you to fail.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nThis quote is likely from Zoe Akins' 1928 play \"Old Lady 31\", which was a Broadway hit and also ran for several months in London's West End. During this time, Akins was at the height of her career as a playwright and novelist, known for her witty dialogue and strong female characters.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nWhat most people miss is that Zoe Akins isn't just talking about jealousy or envy, but rather a more insidious phenomenon: the expectation of failure. She's highlighting how success-haters often operate under the guise of being supportive or even concerned, but ultimately, their behavior stems from a deep-seated need to see others fail.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, be cautious of those who offer unsolicited advice or criticism after you've achieved success. Their words may sound like concern, but could actually be a manifestation of their own disappointment or inadequacy. Pay attention to whether their intentions are genuinely supportive or if they're merely waiting for you to stumble.",{"currentPage":118,"totalPages":118,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":8},1]