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
america armenia earth
I'm no Armenian. I'm an American. Well, the truth is I am both and neither. I love Armenia and I love America and I belong to both, but I am only this: an inhabitant of the earth, and so are you, whoever you are. I tried to forget Armenia but I couldn't do it.
land america armenia
There is a small area of land in Asia Minor that is called Armenia, but it is not so. It is not Armenia. It is a place. There are only Armenians, and they inhabit the earth, not Armenia, since there is no Armenia. There is no America and there is no England, and no France, and no Italy. There is only the earth.
lonely silly america
What a lonely and silly thing it is to be an Armenian writer in America.
writing mean america
Although I write in English, and despite the fact that I'm from America, I consider myself an Armenian writer. The words I use are in English, the surroundings I write about are American, but the soul, which makes me write, is Armenian. This means I am an Armenian writer and deeply love the honor of being a part of the family of Armenian wrtiters.
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.
art role
The role of art is to make a world which can be tolerated.
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.
armenian boy faster fastest impatient keen messenger nickname pace plots
I used to be the fastest telegram messenger boy in all Fresno. My nickname was "Speed." Finally, I said, "Take back your nickname. This pace is killing me." Anyway, I still write fast -- it's my impatient Armenian nature. I'm keen to find out how my plots end, and if I write faster I'll find out sooner.
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.
good man
Every man in the world is better than someone else and not as good as someone else.
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
glad home
But the world was my home and I was glad to be in it.
annoying enemy
No enemy is so annoying as one who was a friend, or still is a friend, and there are many more of these than one would suspect.
I looked, I saw, I understood, I felt, "That's that, where do we go from here?