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Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett Quotes

Novelist

Samuel Beckett was an Irish novelist, playwright, and poet, widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. His works are characterized by their minimalist style, existential themes, and use of language. His most famous works include 'Waiting for Godot' and 'Molloy'. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969.

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All Godot Knows Waiting For Godot Ifs Love Beckett Ends Thinking Art Littles Silence Life Goes On Time Waiting Writing Death Men Mind Samuel Beckett

Famous Samuel Beckett Quotes

“Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. But habit is a great deadener. At me too someone is looking, of me too someone is saying, He is sleeping, he knows nothing. Let him sleep on.”

Wisdom Hope Waiting Difficult Knowledge Habit Confusion Dead Nothing Grow Old Sleeping Grave Hole

Book:Waiting for Godot

Source: Waiting for Godot

“E: Well, shall we go? V: Yes, let's go. (They do not move)”

Book:Waiting for Godot

Source: Waiting for Godot

“Lucky's monologue: "(...)the strides of physical culture the practice of sports such as tennis football running cycling swimming flying floating riding gliding conating camogie skating tennis of all kinds dying flying sports of all sorts autumn summer winter winter tennis of all kinds hockey of all sorts peniciline and succedanea in a word(...)”

Book:Waiting for Godot

Source: Waiting for Godot

“VLADIMIR: Dance, hog!”

Waiting Godot Samuel Beckett

Book:Waiting for Godot

Source: Waiting for Godot

“Pozzo: The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. Let us not the speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier that its predecessors Let us not speak well of it either. It is true the population has increased.”

Waiting For Godot

Book:Waiting for Godot

Source: Waiting for Godot

“VLADIMIR: Charming evening we're having. ESTRAGON: Unforgettable. VLADIMIR: And it's not over. ESTRAGON: Apparently not. VLADIMIR: It's only beginning. ESTRAGON: It's awful.”

Book:Waiting for Godot

Source: Waiting for Godot

“The forms are many in which the unchanging seeks relief from its formlessness.”

Fear Waiting Relief Procrastination Wasted Time Wasted Life Lethargy Forms Inercia Formlessness Unproduction

Book:Malone Dies

Source: Malone Dies

“Estragon: And if he doesn't come? Vladimir: (after a moment of bewilderment) We'll see when the time comes.”

Author:Samuel Beckett

“He who has waited long enough, will wait forever. And there comes the hour when nothing more can happen and nobody more can come and all is ended but the waiting that knows itself in vain.”

Knows Long Enough Happens Waiting Hours Forever Vain

Book:Molloy

Source: Molloy

“Don’t wait to be hunted to hide, that was always my motto.”

Waiting Motto Hunted My Motto

Book:Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable

Source: Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable

“Let's go." "We can't." "Why not?" "We're waiting for Godot.”

Waiting Why Not Godot Waiting For Godot

Book:I Can't Go On, I'll Go On: A Samuel Beckett Reader

Source: I Can't Go On, I'll Go On: A Samuel Beckett Reader

“Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished. Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, there's a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap. I can't be punished any more. I'll go now to my kitchen, ten feet by ten feet by ten feet, and wait for him to whistle me. Nice dimensions, nice proportions, I'll lean on the table, and look at the wall, and wait for him to whistle me.”

Looks Littles I Can Waiting Nice Impossible Feet Wall One Day Ten Tables Finished Kitchen Proportion Dimensions Grain Wait For Him

Book:Endgame and Act Without Words

Source: Endgame and Act Without Words

“We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. Come, let's get to work! (He advances towards the heap, stops in his stride.) In an instant all will vanish and we'll be alone more, in the midst of nothingness!”

Hands Waiting Waste Bored Instant Protest Midst Nothingness Let It Go Stride Diversion Godot Waiting For Godot Bored To Death

Book:The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett

Source: The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett

“What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in the immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come”

Knows Happens Waiting Answers Clear One Thing Blessed Confusion Existentialism Immense Godot Waiting For Godot Cruel Fate

Book:Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

Source: Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

About the Author

Born: April 13, 1906
Died: December 22, 1989
Known for: Novelist
Quotes: 457

Related Topics

Godot Knows Waiting For Godot Ifs Love Beckett Ends Thinking Art Littles Silence Life Goes On Time Waiting Writing Death Men Mind Samuel Beckett

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

MolloyRelated source material

I Can't Go On, I'll Go On: A Samuel Beckett ReaderRelated source material

Three Novels: Molloy, Malone Dies, The UnnamableRelated source material

Waiting for GodotRelated source material

The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel BeckettRelated source material

The UnnamableRelated source material

The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989Related source material

WattRelated source material

MurphyRelated source material

Disjecta: miscellaneous writings and a dramatic fragmentRelated source material

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