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
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.
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.
apt freedom human intense love necessity neither nor order personal serve soul
Neither love nor hate, nor any order of intense adherence to personal involvement in human experience, may be so apt to serve the soul as this freedom and this necessity to be kind.
beyond death love small somewhere town
Is the small town a place, truly, of the world, or is it no more than something out of a boy's dreaming? Out of his love of all things not of death made? All things somewhere beyond the dust, rust, and decay, beyond the top, beyond all sides, beyond bottom: outside, around, over, under, within?
love kissing taste
Of all the things I love to taste, sweetest is the kiss of love.
love moving simple
Love doesn't have to be perfect. Even perfect, it is still the best thing there is, for the simple reason that it is the most common and constant truth of all, of all life, all law and order, the very thing which holds everything together, which permits everything to move along in time and be its wonderful or ordinary self.
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.
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.