The public for which masterpieces are intended is not of this earth. Thornton Wilder More Quotes by Thornton Wilder More Quotes From Thornton Wilder I was an old man when I was 12; and now I am an old man, AND IT'S SPLENDID! Thornton Wilder old-mansplendidmen Everybody's talking about people breaking into houses but there are more people in the world who want to break out of houses. Thornton Wilder perspectivetalkingpeople I rose by sheer military ability to the rank of corporal. Thornton Wilder militarysoldierrose Marriage is a bribe to make a housekeeper think she's a householder. Thornton Wilder marriagefunnythinking The theatre is supremely fitted to say: 'Behold! These things are.' Yet most dramatists employ it to say: 'This moral truth can be learned from beholding this action.' Thornton Wilder moraltheatreaction She had never realized any love save love as passion. Such love, though it expends itself in generosity and thoughtfulness, though it give birth to visions and to great poetry, remains among the sharpest expressions of self-interest. Not until it has passed though a long servitude, though its own self-hatred, though mockery, though great doubts, can it take its place among the loyalties. Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday. Thornton Wilder loyaltydogchildren Leadership is for those who love the public good and are endowed and trained to administer it. Thornton Wilder public-good The difference between a little money and no money at all is enormous-and can shatter the world. And the difference between a little money and an enormous amount of money is very slight-and that, also, can shatter the world. Thornton Wilder differencesmoneyworld He regarded love as a sort of cruel malady through which the elect are required to pass in their late youth and from which they emerge, pale and wrung, but ready for the business of living. Thornton Wilder palelateyouth There are the stars--doing their old, old crisscross journeys in the sky. Scholars haven't settled the matter yet, but they seem to think there are no living beings out there. Just chalk... or fire. Only this one is straining away, straining away all the time to make something of itself. Strain's so bad that every sixteen hours everybody lies down and gets a rest. Thornton Wilder starsjourneylying A convention is an agreed-upon falsehood, a permitted lie. Thornton Wilder falsehoodconventionslying Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Thornton Wilder realizingearthwonderful On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below. Thornton Wilder julyfridaybridges I would love to be the poet laureate of Coney Island. Thornton Wilder poeticislandslove If I wasn't an actor, I'd be a secret agent. Thornton Wilder actorsactingsecret In advertising, not to be different is virtual suicide. Thornton Wilder marketingdifferentsuicide Many plays - certainly mine - are like blank checks. The actors and directors put their own signatures on them. Thornton Wilder signaturesplaydirectors The future author is one who discovers that language, the exploration and manipulation of the resources of language, will serve him in winning through to his way. Thornton Wilder winningwritingway I am my own judge of what truths I shall tell. The truth can do just as much harm as a lie. Thornton Wilder telling-the-truthjudginglying For what human ill does dawn not seem to be alternative? Thornton Wilder healthchoicesdawn
