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
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.
despise evil godliness men un
Despise evil and un godliness but not men of un godliness or evil.
understand
They understand matter, not spirit. And you and I live in spirit.
clear eye ignore kindly unworthy
Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.
growing growth stages unnoticed whose
A growing thing whose stages of growth always went unnoticed ...
happens unkind
You must not be unkind, especially when it happens that you're right.
understanding misunderstood said
The best that can be said for anybody is probably that you misunderstood him favorably.
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