Top 10 Quotes by William Faulkner

William Faulkner (1897–1962) was an American novelist and short story writer known for his complex narratives set in the American South. He is considered one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century, receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. Faulkner's writing often explored themes of race, class, and the decline of the Southern aristocracy. His notable works include "The Sound and the Fury," "As I Lay Dying," "Light in August," and "Absalom, Absalom!" Faulkner's unique narrative style, characterized by stream-of-consciousness, multiple perspectives, and experimental techniques, continues to influence literature and provoke critical study.

Top 10 Quotes by William Faulkner

1. "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore."
— William Faulkner

2. "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
— William Faulkner

3. "In writing, you must kill all your darlings."
— William Faulkner

4. "I decline to accept the end of man."
— William Faulkner

5. "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."
— William Faulkner

6. "The reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time."
— William Faulkner

7. "Between grief and nothing I will take grief."
— William Faulkner

8. "People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too."
— William Faulkner

9. "Sin and love and fear are just sounds that people who never sinned nor loved nor feared have for what they never had and cannot have until they forget the words."
— William Faulkner

10. "It is not proof that I sought. I, of all men, know that proof is but a fallacy invented by man to justify to himself and his fellows his own crass lust and folly."
— William Faulkner