Thornton Wilder

Explore 7 quotes by Thornton Wilder

The best part of married life is the fights. The rest is merely so-so.

Thornton Wilder

More information about this quote

Topic

Conflict in marriage Marriage

Speaker

Mrs. Molloy

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Matchmaker

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1954 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Matchmaker. 4 Nov. 1954, Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, act 2.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. "The Matchmaker." Three Plays: Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, and The Matchmaker. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2020, act 2.

The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.

Thornton Wilder

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

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More information about this quote

Topic

Unrequited love

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, 1927.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Vintage, 2023.

Some say that we shall never know, and that to the gods we are like the flies that the boys kill on a summer's day, and some say, to the contrary, that the very sparrows do not lose a feather that has not been brushed away by the finger of God.

Thornton Wilder

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

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More information about this quote

Topic

God and man God and nature

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, 1927.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Vintage, 2023.

Now he discovered that secret from which one never quite recovers, that even in the most perfect love one person loves less profoundly than the other. There may be two equally good, equally gifted, equally beautiful, but there may never be two that love one another equally well.

Thornton Wilder

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

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More information about this quote

Topic

Inequality in love Love

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, 1927.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Vintage, 2023.

The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go, doesn't it?

Thornton Wilder

More information about this quote

Topic

Mornings Stars

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

Our Town

Medium

Play

Genre

Drama (play) Drama

Language

English

Time

1938 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. Our Town. 22 Jan. 1938, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, act 1.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. Our Town: A Play in Three Acts. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2020, act 1.

The whole purpose of literature... Is the notation of the heart. Style is but the faintly contemptible vessel in which the bitter liquid is recommended to the world.

Thornton Wilder

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

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More information about this quote

Topic

Purpose of literature

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, 1927.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Vintage, 2023.

My advice to you is not to inquire into why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate-that's my philosophy.

Thornton Wilder

More information about this quote

Topic

Living in the moment

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Skin of Our Teeth

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play) Comedy

Language

English

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Skin of Our Teeth. 15 Oct. 1942, Shubert Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, act 1.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. "The Skin of Our Teeth." Three Plays: Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, and The Matchmaker. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2020, act 1.