Be grateful for yourself...be thankful. William Saroyan More Quotes by William Saroyan More Quotes From William Saroyan What a people talk about means something. What they don't talk about means something. William Saroyan mean people The Tax Collector's letters are invariably mimeographed, and all they say is that you still haven't paid him. William Saroyan taxes stills letters Everything and everybody is sooner or later identified, defined, and put in perspective. The truth as always is simultaneously better and worse than what the popular myth-making has it. William Saroyan myth sooner-or-later perspective You must remember always to give, of everything you have. You must give foolishly even. You must be extravagant. You must give to all who come into your life. Then nothing and no one shall have power to cheat you of anything, for if you give to a thief, he cannot steal from you, and he himself is then no longer a thief. And the more you give, the more you will have to give. William Saroyan thieves remember giving Nothing good ever ends. William Saroyan ends People are people. Don't be afraid of them. William Saroyan people Cowards are nice, they're interesting, they're gentle, they wouldn't think of shooting down people in a parade from a tower. They want to live, so they can see their kids. They're very brave. William Saroyan nice kids thinking I believe in anything that works. William Saroyan i-believe-in i-believe believe The mad also laugh, or is that what Freud and the others discovered perhaps, that only the mad laugh? William Saroyan mad laughing Even after you've won fame and fortune, every time you write you've got to write, there's no shortcut, you have to start your career all over again. William Saroyan shortcuts careers writing Kids are always the only future the human race has. William Saroyan race life kids My work has always been the product of my time. William Saroyan my-time products time All I can do is write my stories for mankind, and rest easy. William Saroyan stories easy writing My work is writing, but my real work is being. William Saroyan real-work real writing The purpose of writing is both to keep up with life and to run ahead of it. I am little comfort to myself, although I am the only comfort I have, excepting perhaps streets, clouds, the sun, the faces and voices of kids and the aged, and similar accidents of beauty, innocence, truth and loneliness. William Saroyan loneliness running kids The simple fact was that if the song wasn't about me, I couldn't see how it could possibly be about anybody else, including the one I knew it was supposed to be about, and good luck to him, too. William Saroyan good-luck simple song Whoever the kid had been, whoever had the grand attitude, has finally heeded the admonishment of parents, teachers, governments, religions, and the law: "You just change your attitude now please, young man." This transformation in kids - from flashing dragonflies, so to say, to sticky water-surface worms slowly slipping downstream - is noticed with pride by society and with mortification by God, which is a fantastic way of saying I don't like to see kids throw away their truth just because it isn't worth a dime in the open market. William Saroyan attitude teacher kids Jack Benny had style from the beginning. He stood straight and walked kind of sideways as if he were being gently shoved by a touch of genius. William Saroyan style genius kind I never knew teachers are human beings like everybody else-- and better too! William Saroyan human-beings humans teacher The basic truth of all things, as nearly as we may ever dream of determining and knowing this truth, is form, that which is, as it is. The way and shape of the thing no less than the thing itself. William Saroyan knowing truth dream
