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Portrait of William Goldman

William Goldman

(1931–2018) Playwright United States

281 quotes in 814 categories

William Goldman points out that words can be heard the wrong way, like a lover’s confession that sounds like a simple phrase. He notes that every experience, even painful ones, can teach something useful. He also reminds us that an author’s life fades when his books stop being read.

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William Goldman was a playwright from the United States, best known for The Princess Bride.

Quick Facts About William Goldman

Born: August 12, 1931
Died: November 16, 2018
Nationality: United States
Profession: Playwright
Notable works: The Princess Bride

About William Goldman

He wrote 16 novels and many screenplays over a seven‑decade career. His adaptations of The Princess Bride (1987) and the original screenplay for All the President’s Men (1976) also earned major honors. He received three Writers Guild of America Awards, two Edgar Awards for best motion‑picture screenplay, a Hugo Award for dramatic presentation, and the 1985 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement.

Awards & Honors

Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Edgar Awards Writers Guild of America Award Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

Quotes by William Goldman

Nobody knows anything.

William Goldman

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“I must learn.”

William Goldman

Education

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“Babe was candy.”

William Goldman

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Is this a kissing book?

William Goldman

Book

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I write out of revenge.

William Goldman

Revenge

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“Is it safe?”

William Goldman

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The enemy is always in the mind.

William Goldman

Enemy

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Dummy, dummy, go out now and fill your tummy.

William Goldman

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Anybody that says different is selling something.

William Goldman

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“En mi cuerpo no hay sitio más que para tí.”

William Goldman

Amor

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My Westley will come for me.

William Goldman

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Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us together today.

William Goldman

Princess bride

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Love is many things none of them logical.

William Goldman

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“What's the handle, Zock?”

William Goldman

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Westley: This is true love — you think this happens every day?

William Goldman

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But this is life on earth, you can't have everything.

William Goldman

Earth

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Never argue with your wife about hostility when she's a certified Freudian.

William Goldman

Freudian

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“Isn’t it awful what we’ll do in this world to feel wanted?”

William Goldman

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“Death of the heart,' the subtitle says, Whose death? And even more important maybe, whose heart?”

William Goldman

Death

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This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.

William Goldman

Book

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“If there's ever a question about anything, you can always count on me to get it wrong.”

William Goldman

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I know something you do not know. I am not left-handed either.

William Goldman

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“Do you love me, Westley? Is that it?” He couldn’t believe it. “Do I love you? My God, if your love were…

William Goldman

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You seem a decent fellow," Inigo said. "I hate to kill you." You seem a decent fellow," answered the man in black.…

William Goldman

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You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the…

William Goldman

Alive

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“But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.”

William Goldman

Death

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Westley and I are joined by the bond of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you…

William Goldman

Bloodhounds

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I don't like killing a girl," the Spaniard said. "God does it all the time; if it doesn't bother Him, don't let…

William Goldman

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I've been in the revenge buisness for so long, now that it's over I don't know what to do with the rest…

William Goldman

Brides

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I love you. Okay? Want it louder? I LOVE YOU. Spell it out, should I? I ell-oh-vee-ee why-oh-you. Want it backward? You…

William Goldman

Ells

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Westly, Westly, Westly, Westly, Westly,--darling Westly, adored Westly, sweet perfect Westly, whisper that I have a chance to win your love." And…

William Goldman

Chance

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When I left you, you were already more beautiful than anything I dared to dream. In our years apart, my imaginings did…

William Goldman

Beautiful

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“I don't know that you'll understand this, but once upon a time, long ago, I was a scholar and a marathon man,…

William Goldman

Executions

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There have been five great kisses since 1642 B.C...(before then couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly…

William Goldman

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The first morning after Westley's departure, Buttercup thought she was entitled to do nothing more than sit around moping and feeling sorry…

William Goldman

Buttercup

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“INIGO WAS IN Despair. Hard to find on the map (this was after maps) not because cartographers didn't know of its existence,…

William Goldman

Travel

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I can't keep my head above water one minute to the next: it's not just the parties and the goo-gooing with what's-her-name,…

William Goldman

Country

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He held up a book then. “I'm going to read it to you for relax.” “Does it have any sports in it?”…

William Goldman

Adventure

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You can never trust what you read.

William Goldman

Books

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Never get involved in a land war in Asia.

William Goldman

Asia

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William Goldman by topic

Love (38) Life (31) Buttercup (28) Books (19) Thinking (17) Death (17) Time (15) Book (13) Writing (12) World (12) Princess (12) Writer (11) Princess bride (11) Parenting (11) Pain (11) Men (11) Humor (11)