Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Godot, absurdist theater

Modern influential 93 sayings

Sayings by Samuel Beckett

Words are all we have.

1958 — Play: 'Krapp's Last Tape'
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I am what I am, I'm a mess.

Unknown — Undetermined, a common sentiment attributed to characters in his works.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the faults of his feet.

1953 — Play: 'Waiting for Godot'
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The light went out, and I thought, Now what?

1951 — Novel: 'Malone Dies'
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I'm not interested in stories. I don't want to tell stories. I don't want to know stories.

1960s — Interview
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The sun shines, wets, dries, warms. What then?

1961 — Play: 'Happy Days'
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If I could speak and yet say nothing, that is what I would do.

1953 — Novel: 'The Unnamable'
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The greatest thing is to be forgotten. I mean, to be truly forgotten. To have no trace, no memory, nothing.

Unknown — Undetermined, a recurring theme in his work.
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I couldn't have done it otherwise. I couldn't have done anything otherwise.

1951 — Novel: 'Moloy'
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There's a lot of things that don't exist. But that doesn't mean they're not real.

Unknown — Undetermined, a common paradox attributed to him.
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I'm not a writer. I'm a man who writes.

1960s — Interview
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All life is a game of cards. All you need is luck.

Unknown — Undetermined, a common proverb, sometimes attributed to him as a cynical observation.
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The world is a heap of shit.

Unknown — Undetermined, a phrase that aligns with his bleak worldview.
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I have nothing to say, and I am saying it.

Unknown — Undetermined, often attributed as a meta-commentary on his own writing.
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What is there to say? Nothing. But you must say something.

1957 — Play: 'Endgame'
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The light always goes out in the end.

Unknown — Undetermined, a recurring motif in his work.
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I'm doing my best to be dead.

1938 — Novel: 'Murphy'
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Silence is the only virtue.

Unknown — Undetermined, often attributed as a reflection of his minimalist aesthetic.
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I'm a dead man. I'm a dead man walking.

Unknown — Undetermined, a common sentiment in his works.
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The human condition is a mess.

Unknown — Undetermined, a common interpretation of his work.
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable