Quotessence
Home / Authors / William Saroyan
William Saroyan

William Saroyan Quotes

Dramatist

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenWorldIfsWritingPeopleKnowsHumansLittlesWayArmeniansLifeAliveArtRaceEarthEvery ManGoodnessHeartI CanKids

Famous William Saroyan Quotes

“Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding-place and let it be free and unashamed. Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world.”

WorldHeartMayHas BeensMatterValuesFoundVirtueSorrowGoodnessAll ThingsShameShiningTerrorCorruptionDrivenFleshHidingSecrecyPassing AwayHiding Place
Book:Famous American plays of the 1920s and the 1930s
Create image

“I can't decide for you whether or not you have got to write, but if anything in the world, war, or pestilence, or famine, or private hunger, or anything, can stop you from writing, then don't write . . . because if anything can even begin to keep you from writing you aren't a writer and you'll be in a hell of a mess until you find out. If you are a writer, you'll still be in a hell of a mess, but you'll have better reasons.”

IfsWorldWritingStillsI CanWarReasonHellHungerMessWar Of The WorldsFaminePestilence
Author:William Saroyan
Create image

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.”

PeopleIfsWorldShouldTwoWarHomeLiteratureLostWaterCan DoChurchPrayerRaceLaughingPrayingMusic IsStructureBreadDesertTribesYou Can Do ItUnimportantUnheardArmenia
Author:William Saroyan
Create image

“Unless a man has pity he is not truly a man. If a man has not wept at the worlds pain he is only half a man, and there will always be pain in the world, knowing this does not mean that a man shall dispair. A good man will seek to take pain out of things. A foolish man will not even notice it, except in himself, and the poor unfortunate evil man will drive pain deeper into things and spread it about wherever he goes.”

IfsMenWorldMeanDoePainEvilPoorHalfKnowingDeeperSpreadFoolishPityGood ManUnfortunateEvil ManFoolish Man
Author:William Saroyan
Create image

“In the time of your life, live - so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding-place and let it be free and unashamed...In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

WorldFoundMysterySorrowGoodnessInfiniteAddMiseryDelightGood TimesHidingUglinessWondrousHiding PlaceTime Of Your Life
Author:William Saroyan
Create image

“Baseball is caring. Player and fan alike must care, or there is no game. If there's no game, there's no pennant race and no World Series. And for all any of us know there might soon be no nation at all. It is good to care - in any dimension. More Americans put their caring into baseball than into anything else I can think of - and most put at least a little of it there. Baseball can be trusted, as great art can, and bad art can't.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWorldLittlesArtI CanMightCareGamesNationsRacePlayerFansBaseballSeriesCaringDimensionsTrustedGreat ArtWorld Series
Author:William Saroyan
Create image