Quotes by Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder

American writer and playwright

Lived from: 1897 - 1975

Category: Writers (Contemporary) Country: FlagUnited States

Born: 17 april 1897 Died: 7 december 1975

  • The planting of trees in the least self-centered of all that we can do. It is a purer act of faith than the procreation of children.
  • My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate - that's my philosophy.
  • I've never forgotten for long at a time that living is struggle. I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for - whether it's a field, or a home, or a country.
  • Many plays, are like blank checks. The actors and directors put their own signatures on them.
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Quotes 1 till 20 of 27.

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  • It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • A dramatist is one who believes that the pure event, an action involving human beings, is more arresting than any comment that can be made upon it.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • A play visibly represents pure existing.
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  • For what human ill does dawn not seem to be alternative?
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  • I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of exceptional gifts.
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  • I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • I rose by sheer military ability to the rank of corporal.
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  • I've never forgotten for long at a time that living is struggle. I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for - whether it's a field, or a home, or a country.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • It's when you're safe at home that you wish you were having an adventure. When you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.
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  • Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.
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  • Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest attention to colloquial speech.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • Many plays, are like blank checks. The actors and directors put their own signatures on them.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she's a householder.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate - that's my philosophy.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • Never support two weaknesses at the same time. It's your combination sinners - your lecherous liars and your miserly drunkards - who dishonor the vices and bring them into bad repute.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • The best part of married life is the fights. The rests is merely so.
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  • The best thing about animals is they don't talk much.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • The comic spirit is given to us in order that we may analyze, weigh, and clarify things in us which nettle us, or which we are outgrowing, or trying to reshape.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • The future author is one who discovers that language, the exploration and manipulation of the resources of language, will serve him in winning through to his way.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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  • The planting of trees in the least self-centered of all that we can do. It is a purer act of faith than the procreation of children.
    ― Thornton Wilder
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Questions and Answers

What are the most famous quotes from Thornton Wilder?

The two most famous quotes from Thornton Wilder are:

  • "It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves."
  • "A dramatist is one who believes that the pure event, an action involving human beings, is more arresting than any comment that can be made upon it."

When did Thornton Wilder live?

Thornton Wilder was born in 1897 and died in the year 1975.