161 "William Faulkner" Quotes And Sayings

William "Bill" Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897. His family was of Scottish descent and he claimed descent from an Old Frenchman named Bayard who was killed in the French and Indian War. He received his B.A. from the University of Mississippi, then spent three years at the University of Virginia, where he wrote for The Cavalier Daily, aiming to become a doctor Read more

He transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical School, but after an argument with his professor, dropped out to become a teacher at Jefferson Davis High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. His first published story appeared in the April 1923 issue of The American Mercury magazine. He is perhaps best known for his novel The Sound and the Fury (1929), which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1930.

The saddest thing about love, Joe, is that not only...
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The saddest thing about love, Joe, is that not only the love cannot last forever, but even the heartbreak is soon forgotten. William Faulkner
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She was bored. She loved, had capacity to love, for love, to give and accept love. Only she tried twice and failed twice to find somebody not just strong enough to deserve it, earn it, match it, but even brave enough to accept it. William Faulkner
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You don’t love because: you love despite; not for the virtues, but despite the faults. William Faulkner
I could just remember how my father used to say...
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I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time. William Faulkner
Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can...
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Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. William Faulkner
A writer must teach himself that the basest of all...
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A writer must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid. William Faulkner
The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which...
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The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. William Faulkner
Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or...
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Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. William Faulkner
Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and...
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Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth. William Faulkner
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The best fiction is far more true than any journalism. William Faulkner
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Ingenuity was apparently given man in order that he may supply himself in crises with shapes and sounds with which to guard himself from truth. William Faulkner
He looked at her, stripped naked for the instant of...
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He looked at her, stripped naked for the instant of verbiage and deceit. William Faulkner
And even a liar can be scared into telling the...
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And even a liar can be scared into telling the truth, same as honest man can be tortured into telling a lie. William Faulkner
I am the chosen of the Lord, for who He...
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I am the chosen of the Lord, for who He loveth, so doeth He chastiseth. But I be durn if He dont take some curious ways to show it, seems like. William Faulkner
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I reckon if there’s ere a man or woman anywhere that He could turn it all over to and go away with His mind at rest, it would be Cora. And I reckon she would make a few changes, no matter how He was running it. And I reckon they would be for man’s good. Leastways, we would have to like them. Leastways, we might as well go on and make like we did. William Faulkner
If happy I can be I will, if suffer I...
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If happy I can be I will, if suffer I must I can. William Faulkner
You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage...
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You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. William Faulkner
You don't dare think whole even to yourself the entirety...
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You don't dare think whole even to yourself the entirety of a dear hope or wish let alone a desperate one else you yourself have doomed it. William Faulkner
Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing,...
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Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain. William Faulkner
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I reckon it does take a powerful trust in the Lord to guard a fellow, though sometimes I think that Cora’s a mite over-cautious, like she was trying to crowd the other folks away and get in closer than anybody else. William Faulkner