Frasi di William Saroyan
William Saroyan
Data di nascita: 31. Agosto 1908
Data di morte: 18. Maggio 1981
William Saroyan è stato uno scrittore e drammaturgo statunitense.
Frasi William Saroyan
„Io non so per quale ragione quel meraviglioso desiderio e altri del genere si manifestano pur sempre in una vita nuova, mentre l'esperienza ha dimostrato da un pezzo la futilità loro e il loro pericolo, ma è certo che continuano a manifestarsi per una ragione o un'altra, e ho quasi idea che siano universali, ed eterni, inevitabili di ogni vita che si forma, poi lentamente o rapidamente messi via, secondo i casi, in quanto non ad altro conducono che a dolore, dolore, o alla morte, e mai alla grandezza che pur svegliano dentro e che chiedono, vogliono, forse perché, nella natura delle cose, noi siamo, dopotutto, piccoli e deboli, e troppo facilmente ci adattiamo alla terra, accettiamo le limitazioni della mortalità.“
— William Saroyan
Che ve ne sembra dell'America?, Al calar del sole; 1998, pp. 162-163
„Se un uomo grande e grosso vi dice qualche impertinenza e voi sapete di non poterlo stendere a terra con un solo colpo, bene, rispondetegli civilmente e in nove casi su dieci quello se ne andrà per i fatti suoi e lascerà voi ai vostri.
Ricordatevelo sempre.
Ma non sempre, si capisce, il trucco funziona. Ogni regola ha le sue eccezioni.
Pat Hogan, il telegrafista, fu un'eccezione.“
— William Saroyan
Che ve ne sembra dell'America?, Avviso a chi vuol lavorare nelle pompe funebri; 1998, p. 206
„La cosa più importante in una ragazza è l'odore che fa.“
— William Saroyan
Che ve ne sembra dell'America?, Avviso a chi vuol lavorare nelle pompe funebri; 1998, p. 203
„Leggere fa l'uomo completo, scrivere lo fa preciso […].“
— William Saroyan
Che ve ne sembra dell'America?, Settantamila assiri; 1998, p. 21
„Posso amare un onesto idiota, ma non posso amare un genio disonesto.“
— William Saroyan
Che ve ne sembra dell'America?, Me stesso sulla terra; 1998, p. 41
„Il massimo possibile della felicità è sapere che non è indispensabile essere felici.“
— William Saroyan
Il mio cuore negli altipiani
„[…] un uomo non comincia a vivere se non comincia a morire.“
— William Saroyan
Che ve ne sembra dell'America?, Il mondo e il teatro; 1998, p. 107
„In the end, today is forever, yesterday is still today, and tomorrow is already today.“
— William Saroyan
My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)
„Then swiftly, neatly, with the grace of the young man on the trapeze, he was gone from his body.
For an eternal moment he was still all things at once: the bird, the fish, the rodent, the reptile, and man.“
— William Saroyan
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), Context: Then swiftly, neatly, with the grace of the young man on the trapeze, he was gone from his body.
For an eternal moment he was still all things at once: the bird, the fish, the rodent, the reptile, and man. An ocean of print undulated endlessly and darkly before him. The city burned. The herded crowd rioted. The earth circled away, and knowing that he did so, he turned his lost face to the empty sky and became dreamless, unalive, perfect.
"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"
„When you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.“
— William Saroyan
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), Context: The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
Preface
„If you can't write a decent short story because of the cold, write something else. Write anything.“
— William Saroyan
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), A Cold Day, Context: If you can't write a decent short story because of the cold, write something else. Write anything. Write a long letter to somebody.
„A trapeze to God, or to nothing, a flying trapeze to some sort of eternity; he prayed objectively for strength to make the flight with grace.“
— William Saroyan
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), Context: Through the air on the flying trapeze, his mind hummed. Amusing it was, astoundingly funny. A trapeze to God, or to nothing, a flying trapeze to some sort of eternity; he prayed objectively for strength to make the flight with grace.
"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"
„Every man alive in the world is a beggar of one sort or another, every last one of them, great and small.“
— William Saroyan
Context: Every man alive in the world is a beggar of one sort or another, every last one of them, great and small. The priest begs God for grace, and the king begs something for something. Sometimes he begs the people for loyalty, sometimes he begs God to forgive him. No man in the world can have endured ten years without having begged God to forgive him.
"The Beggars" in The William Saroyan Reader (1958)
„I love Armenia and I love America and I belong to both, but I am only this: an inhabitant of the earth, and so are you, whoever you are.“
— William Saroyan
Inhale and Exhale (1936), Antranik and the Spirit of Armenia, Context: It's all over. We can begin to forget Armenia now. Andranik is dead. The nation is lost. I'm no Armenian. I'm an American. Well, the truth is I am both and neither. I love Armenia and I love America and I belong to both, but I am only this: an inhabitant of the earth, and so are you, whoever you are. I tried to forget Armenia but I couldn't do it.
„The loneliness does not come from the War. The War did not make it. It was the loneliness that made the War.“
— William Saroyan, libro The Human Comedy
The Human Comedy (1943), Context: Everything is changed — for you. But it is still the same, too. The loneliness you feel has come to you because you are no longer a child. But the whole world has always been full of that loneliness. The loneliness does not come from the War. The War did not make it. It was the loneliness that made the War.
„I am interested in madness. I believe it is the biggest thing in the human race, and the most constant.“
— William Saroyan
Context: I am interested in madness. I believe it is the biggest thing in the human race, and the most constant. How do you take away from a man his madness without also taking away his identity? Are we sure it is desirable for a man's spirit not to be at war with itself, or that it is better to be serene and ready to go to dinner than to be excited and unwilling to stop for a cup of coffee, even?
Short Drive, Sweet Chariot (1966)
„For if everybody else is also not what Jesus said he was, what good is what he said?“
— William Saroyan
Sons Come and Go, Mothers Hang in Forever (1976), Context: Jesus never said anything about absurdity, and he never indicated for one flash of time that he was aware of the preposterousness of his theory about himself. And he didn't even try to make the theory understandable in terms of the reality and experience of the rest of us. For if everybody else is also not what Jesus said he was, what good is what he said?
„He wanted to be a passenger on anything that was going anywhere, but most of all on a ship.“
— William Saroyan
Context: When I was fifteen and had quit school forever, I went to work in a vineyard near Sanger with a number of Mexicans, one of whom was only a year or two older than myself, an earnest boy named Felipe. One gray, dismal, cold, dreary day in January, while we were pruning muscat vines, I said to this boy, simply in order to be talking, "If you had your wish, Felipe, what would you want to be? A doctor, a farmer, a singer, a painter, a matador, or what?" Felipe thought a minute, and then he said, "Passenger." This was exciting to hear, and definitely something to talk about at some length, which we did. He wanted to be a passenger on anything that was going anywhere, but most of all on a ship.
Short Drive, Sweet Chariot (1966)
