The quotations of

William Faulkner

American writer

1897–1962

11 quotes, most often on Time and Failure.

The past is never dead. It’s not even past.
Requiem for a Nun (1951)
- History
- Time
People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.
As I Lay Dying (1930), Addie
- Religion
Clocks slay time. … Time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.
The Sound and the Fury (1929), “June Second, 1910”In context
- Time
The artist doesn’t have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews, the ones who want to write don’t have the time to read reviews.
Paris Review interview (1958)
- Art
- Writing
All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.
Interview with Jean Stein, The Paris Review, No. 12 (Spring 1956)
- Failure
If I were reincarnated, I’d want to come back a buzzard. Nothing hates him or envies him or wants him or needs him. He is never bothered or in danger, and he can eat anything.
Interview with Jean Stein, The Paris Review, No. 12 (Spring 1956)
- Animals
- Comedy
A man is the sum of his misfortunes. One day you’d think misfortune would get tired, but then time is your misfortune
The Sound and the Fury (1929), June Second, 1910 (2 of 4)In context
- Luck
- Time
It might have been all time and injustice and sorrow become vocal for an instant by a conjunction of planets.
The Sound and the Fury (1929), April Eighth, 1928 (1 of 2)In context
- Justice
Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.
The Sound and the Fury (1929), April Seventh, 1928 (1 of 3)In context
I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
The Sound and the Fury (1929), June Second, 1910 (1 of 4)In context
- Failure
- Time
Christ was not crucified: he was worn away by a minute clicking of little wheels.
The Sound and the Fury (1929), June Second, 1910 (1 of 4)In context
- Christianity
- Time

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