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William Faulkner Quotes - Page 4

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If there is a God what the hell is He for?

If there is a God what the hell is He for?

William Faulkner
If There Is A God, Hell, Ifs
William Faulkner (1946). “The Sound and the Fury: And As I Lay Dying”, New York : The Modern library

Men have been pacifists for every reason under the sun except to avoid danger and fighting.

William Faulkner
Fighting, Men, Sun
William Faulkner (2011). “Uncollected Stories of William Faulkner”, p.85, Vintage

Perhaps they were right putting love into books. Perhaps it could not live anywhere else.

William Faulkner
Book
William Faulkner (1972). “Light in August”, Vintage

The end of wisdom is to dream high enough to lose the dream in the seeking of it.

William Faulkner
Love, Inspirational, Wisdom
William Faulkner (2011). “Flags in the Dust: The complete text of Faulkner's third novel, which appeared in a cut version as Sartoris”, p.68, Vintage

All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the base of our splendid failure to do the impossible.

William Faulkner
Dream, Possible And Impossible, Perfection
1956 On his generation of writers. Interview in Paris Review, Spring.

Talk, talk, talk: the utter and heartbreaking stupidity of words.

William Faulkner
Stupid, Silence, Stupidity
William Faulkner (2006). “Novels, 1926-1929”

People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.

William Faulkner
People, Matter, Sin
William Faulkner (1964). “As I Lay Dying”, GoodBook Classics

In writing, you must kill all your darlings.

William Faulkner
Writing, Darling

And sure enough, even waiting will end...if you can just wait long enough.

William Faulkner
Patience, Long, Waiting

Like a fellow running from or toward a gun ain't got time to worry whether the word for what he is doing is courage or cowardice.

William Faulkner
Running, Gun, Worry

Who gathers the withered rose?

William Faulkner
Rose, Withered
William Faulkner (2006). “Novels, 1926-1929”

One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can't eat...nor make love for eight hours...

William Faulkner
Work, Men, Eight
"William Faulkner, The Art of Fiction No. 12". Interview with Jean Stein, www.theparisreview.org. 1956.

Love doesn't die; the men and women do.

William Faulkner
Men, Men And Women, Dies

He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.

William Faulkner
Music, Sarcastic, Sarcasm

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but that's the only way you can do anything really good.

William Faulkner
Inspiring, Writing, May
"A Faulkner perspective: a companion-guide to the limited first edition of the Selected letters of William Faulkner".

Every man has a different idea of what's beautiful, and it's best to take the gesture, the shadow of the branch, and let the mind create the tree.

William Faulkner
Beautiful, Men, Ideas
Quoted in Reader's Digest, Mar. 1973

She was the captain of her soul

William Faulkner
Soul, Captains

She clung to that which had robbed her, as people do.

William Faulkner
People

Some things you must always be unable to bear. Some things you must never stop refusing to bear. Injustice and outrage and dishonor and shame. No matter how young you are or how old you have got. Not for kudos and not for cash: your picture in the paper nor money in the back either. Just refuse to bear them.

William Faulkner
Peace, Paper, Cash
William Faulkner (1994). “Novels 1942-1954”

A man is the sum of his misfortunes.

William Faulkner
Men, Misfortunes
William Faulkner (2011). “FAULKNER READER”, p.104, Modern Library

I draw no petty social lines. A man to me is a man, wherever I find him.

William Faulkner
Men, Lines, Social
William Faulkner “The Sound and the Fury”, W. W. Norton & Company

And even a liar can be scared into telling the truth, same as honest man can be tortured into telling a lie.

William Faulkner
Liars, Lying, Men
William Faulkner (1985). “Novels, 1930-1935”, Library of America

You have to write badly in order to write well.

William Faulkner
Writing, Order, Wells

Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him.

William Faulkner
Mistake, Believe, Writing
"William Faulkner, The Art of Fiction No. 12". Interview with Jean Stein, www.theparisreview.org. 1956.

I say money has no value; it's just the way you spend it.

William Faulkner
Way, Values
William Faulkner (2011). “FAULKNER READER”, p.188, Modern Library

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