William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyanwas an American dramatist and author. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film adaptation of his novel The Human Comedy...
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth31 August 1908
CityFresno, CA
guilt inferior innocence man nor remember variation
Be the inferior of no man, nor of any be the superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart.
born flesh love streets
The streets made me, and the streets stink, but I love them, for I was born in them out of flesh and I was born in them out of spirit.
addicted astonished details everybody forever interested seemed takes
I was never interested in the obvious, or in the details one takes for granted, and everybody seemed to be addicted to the obvious, being astonished by it, and forever harping about the details which I had long ago weighted, measured, and discarded a
growing growth stages unnoticed whose
A growing thing whose stages of growth always went unnoticed ...
art role
The role of art is to make a world which can be tolerated.
dime kids open throw truth worth
I don't like to see kids throw away their truth just because it isn't worth a dime in the open market.
alive good great lets paints remind saw sure
He paints for the blind, and we are the blind, and he lets us see for sure what we saw long ago but weren't sure we saw. He paints for the dead, to remind us that - great good God, think of it - we're alive ...
work
Without pressure, the work doesn't get done at all.
decent giver hell looking thanks
What the hell are they all looking for? A decent way to give it all over to the giver of it all, with thanks for the bother.
above beyond cease ends image knew longer loveliness man reached sleep train truly until
While the train was going by, I knew that a man will go away without ever having reached anywhere, and never will the image of loveliness just beyond all things, all ends and edges, over and above and within, cease to be in his sleep until he is truly one who is no longer alive, and no longer able to sleep at all.
prayer war home
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.
gratitude grateful being-thankful
Be grateful for yourself...be thankful.
writing veterinarian knows
I do not know what makes a writer, but it probably isn't happiness.
anger soon-enough laughing
Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.