Portrait of Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Godot, absurdist theater

Modern influential 93 sayings

Sayings by Samuel Beckett

The essential doesn't change.

1957 — From 'Endgame'
General Unverifiable

I am not interested in any system. I am not interested in any theory.

1956 — Interview with Israel Shenker, New York Times
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

Given the choice between the two, I would always choose silence.

Unknown — Reported anecdote or personal reflection
General Unverifiable

We are not saints, but we have been saints.

1953 — From 'Waiting for Godot'
General Unverifiable

The more I think, the less I am.

1951 — From 'Malone Dies'
General Unverifiable

I can't express myself. I have no words.

1953 — From 'The Unnamable'
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

The best things in life are free, but they cost a lot of money.

Unknown — Attributed, but sounds more like a common idiom. Confidence low.
Work & Money Unverifiable

I'm not a philosopher, I'm an artist.

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

The day will come when I shall be able to tell myself that I have done all that I can.

1951 — From 'Malone Dies'
Self-Deprecating Unverifiable

All life is a coming into being and a going out of being.

1951 — From 'Molloy'
Life & Aging Unverifiable

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

Unknown — Attributed to John Milton, not Beckett. Confidence low.
General Unverifiable

The light cannot come from the outside.

1951 — From 'Malone Dies'
General Unverifiable

The dead are all around us, like leaves in autumn.

Unknown — Attributed, but somewhat poetic and generic. Confidence low.
General Unverifiable
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