Portrait of Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Godot, absurdist theater

Modern influential 93 sayings

Sayings by Samuel Beckett

The best way to get to know yourself is to live alone.

N/A — Undetermined, attributed
General Unverifiable

The dead are all listening. They don't care.

N/A — Undetermined, attributed
General Unverifiable

I am what I am, and I am not what I am not.

N/A — Undetermined, attributed
General Unverifiable

The sun, having no alternative, shines on the nothing new.

1961 — Play 'Happy Days'
General Unverifiable

The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.

N/A — Undetermined, attributed. A common sentiment, but not a direct quote from his known works.
General Unverifiable

Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!

1953 — Play 'Waiting for Godot'
General Unverifiable

The more you are, the less you are. The less you are, the more you are.

N/A — Undetermined, attributed
General Unverifiable

We are born astride of a grave, and a hellish light it is.

1953 — From 'Waiting for Godot'
General Unverifiable

Don't look for meaning in everything. And don't look for conclusions. Conclusions are a disease.

1956 — Interview with Israel Shenker, New York Times
General Unverifiable

Dance till the stars come down from the rafters; dance, dance, dance till you drop.

1938 — From 'Murphy'
General Unverifiable

Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! Let us do something, while we have the chance!

1953 — From 'Waiting for Godot'
General Unverifiable

I use words because I have nothing else.

1949 — From 'Three Dialogues with Georges Duthuit'
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

What do we do now? We wait. Yes, but while waiting. What do we do?

1953 — From 'Waiting for Godot'
General Unverifiable

The greatest poverty is not to live in a cell, but to be without hope.

Unknown — Attributed, source unclear, but aligns with his themes
Food & Drink Unverifiable

I hate the human race. I hate them all.

1958 — From 'Krapp's Last Tape'
General Unverifiable

Old men are always thinking of the past and the future, but never of the present.

1953 — From 'Waiting for Godot'
Life & Aging Unverifiable

The best possible way to avoid the problem is to solve it.

Unknown — Attributed, but somewhat generic advice, confidence low.
General Unverifiable

I am what I am, or I am not.

1953 — From 'The Unnamable'
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

You have no idea what it's like to be me. Nobody has any idea what it's like to be me.

1958 — From 'Krapp's Last Tape'
General Unverifiable

All I know is what the words say.

1956 — Interview with Israel Shenker, New York Times
General Unverifiable
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