william goldman Quotes

You don't want to be rude but you have to be careful - there are a lot of strange people out there.(Goldman attributes this quote to Cliff Robertson.)

- William Goldman, Adventures In The Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood

The Princess BrideS. Morgenstern'sClassic Tale of True Loveand High AdventureYou had to admire a guy who called his own new book a classic before it was published and anyone had a chance to read it.

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Funny thing- Morgenstern's folk's were named Max and Valerie and his father was a doctor.

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Give the reader what they want, just not the way they expect it.

- William Goldman

I must be overtired', Buttercup managed. 'The excitement and all.''Rest then', her mother cautioned. 'Terrible things can happen when you're overtired. I was overtired the night your father proposed.

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

- William Goldman, William Goldman: Four Screenplays with Essays

Screenplays are structure, and that’s all they are. The quality of writing—which is crucial in almost every other form of literature—is not what makes a screenplay work. Structure isn’t anything else but telling the story, starting as late as possible, starting each scene as late as possible. You don’t want to begin with “Once upon a time,” because the audience gets antsy.

- William Goldman

The hollowness was in his arms and the world was snowing.

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high.

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride

Love is many things, none of them logical.

- William Goldman

You focus on telling stories,
we do everything else.