Thornton Wilder

The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.

We all know that something is eternal. And it ain't houses and it ain't names, and it ain't earth, and it ain't even the stars... everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings.

Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? — every, every minute?

Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.

The future is the most expensive thing in the world.

Money is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow.

There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.

The world is a wedding. We are the guests.

The greatest wisdom consists in knowing one's own ignorance.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

The more we are in the world, the more we are out of it.

Does anyone ever realize life while they live it...every, every minute?

The true beginning of our end.

Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing nobly, and give to the world the best you have.

Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate.

We ourselves shall only be remembered by what we do and what we leave behind.

The greatest tribute one can pay to a work of art is to ignore it.

A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure they got everything right.

The dead don't stay interested in us living people for very long. Gradually, gradually, they let go hold of the earth... and the ambitions they had... and the pleasures they had... and the things they suffered... and the people they loved.