Top 160 William Goldman Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing compared to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm.”

— William Goldman

52. “There is no room in my body for anything but you. My arms love you, my ears adore you, my knees shake with blind affection. My mind begs you to ask it something so it can obey.”

— William Goldman

53. “Anything there is that I can do for you, I will do for you; anything there is that I cannot do, I will learn to do.”

— William Goldman

54. “What kind of human person has a favorite eraser?”

— William Goldman

55. “But just as he knew the sun was obliged to rise each morning in the east, no matter how much a western arisal might have pleased it, so he knew that Buttercup was obliged to spend her love on him. Gold was inviting, and so was royalty, but they could not match the fever in his heart, and sooner or later she would have to catch it. She had less choice than the sun.”

— William Goldman

56. “You are wonderful, Father.“”I’m more than wonderful, how dare you insult me.”

— William Goldman

57. “Do you love me, Westley? Is that it?” He couldn’t believe it. “Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches. If.”

— William Goldman

58. “I am as devoted to adventure now as then, and that’s never going to stop.”

— William Goldman

59. “Inside and out, Westley’s world was ripping apart and he could do nothing but crack along with it.”

— William Goldman

60. “You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen, and I think it quite ungentlemanly.”

— William Goldman

61. “Westley: This is true love – you think this happens every day?”

— William Goldman

62. “She had never looked as well. She had entered her room as just an impossibly lovely girl. The woman who emerged was a trifle thinner, a great deal wiser, an ocean sadder. This one understood the nature of pain, and beneath the glory of her features, there was character, and a sure knowledge of suffering.”

— William Goldman

63. “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

64. “The first morning after Westley’s departure, Buttercup thought she was entitled to do nothing more than sit around moping and feeling sorry for herself. After all, the love of her life had fled, life had no meaning, how could you face the future, et cetera, et cetera.”

— William Goldman

65. “You can never trust what you read.”

— William Goldman

66. “Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.”

— William Goldman

67. “As far as the filmmaking process is concerned, stars are essentially worthless – and absolutely essential.”

— William Goldman

68. “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.”

— William Goldman

69. “Westley and I are joined by the bond of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.”

— William Goldman

70. “Buttercup’s parents did not have exactly what you might call a happy marriage. All they ever dreamed of was leaving each other.”

— William Goldman

71. “There is no room in my body for anything but you.”

— William Goldman

72. “It was all part of growing up. You got these little quick passions, you blinked, and they were gone. You forgave faults, found perfection, fell madly; then the next day the sun came up and it was over. Chalk it up to experience, old girl, and get on with the morning. Buttercup stood, made her bed, changed her clothes, combed her hair, smiled, and burst out again in a fit of weeping. Because there was a limit to just how much you could lie to yourself.”

— William Goldman

73. “With any luck at all,” he said, “we should soon be safely in the Fire Swamp.”

— William Goldman

74. “Existence was really very simple when you did what you were told.”

— William Goldman

75. “There’s death coming up, and you better understand this: some of the wrong people die. Be ready for it. This isn’t Curious George Uses the Potty.”

— William Goldman

76. “There are always too few perfect breasts in this world; leave yours alone.”

— William Goldman

77. “But this is life on earth, you can’t have everything.”

— William Goldman

78. “Life is pain. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.”

— William Goldman

79. “You just keep thinking, Butch; that’s what you’re good at.”

— William Goldman

80. “Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us together today.”

— William Goldman

81. “God grant you your quota of smiles.”

— William Goldman

82. “I’m the Dread Pirate Roberts, but you can call me ‘Weasley.”

— William Goldman

83. “You could concentrate much more deeply when you were alone with agony.”

— William Goldman

84. “He was the mighty Fezzik, lover of rhymes, and you did not give up, no matter what.”

— William Goldman

85. “La vie imite l’art, l’art imite la vie; parfois je suis incapable de les distinguer.”

— William Goldman

86. “You’re right,” the Turk agreed, staring back. “He isn’t gaining on us. He’s just getting closer, that’s all.”

— William Goldman

87. “What with one thing and another, three years passed.”

— William Goldman

88. “He had risked his life and now it was walking away from him, hand-in-hand with a Ruffian prince.”

— William Goldman

89. “I mean, I really do think that love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. 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

90. “Life is pain,” his mother said. “Anybody that says different is selling something.”

— William Goldman

91. “Flaws would not only bring death but, far worse, humiliation.”

— William Goldman

92. “Mawidge is a dweam wiffin a dweam.”

— William Goldman

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

— William Goldman

94. “Never argue with your wife about hostility when she’s a certified Freudian.”

— William Goldman

95. “I am not a planner. I follow. Tell me what to do and no man alive does it better. But my mind is like fine wine; it travels badly.”

— William Goldman

96. “If all that’s going on in your scenes is what’s going on in your scenes, think about it a long time.”

— William Goldman

97. “The Duchess set about studying Annette and shortly found her adversary’s tragic flaw. Chocolate.”

— William Goldman

98. “The old man nodded. “Now I can die.” She glanced at him. “Don’t.” Her tone was surprisingly tender, and probably she sensed how important he really was to her, because when he did die, two years further on, she went right after, and most of the people who knew her well agreed it was the sudden lack of opposition that undid her.”

— William Goldman

99. “No. Not yet. A craftsman only. But I dream to be an artist. I pray that someday, if I work with enough care, if I am very very lucky, I will make a weapon that is a work of art. Call me an artist then, and I will answer.”

— William Goldman

100. “I say you are a coward and you are; I think you hunt only to reassure yourself that you are not what you are: the weakest thing to ever walk the Earth. He will come for me and then we will be gone, and you will be helpless for all your hunting, because Westley and I are joined by the bond of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.”

— William Goldman