Quotes & anectdotes from the wise, the foolish, the courageous & the drunk

Tennessee Williams Playwright

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Mar 26, 1911
  • Died: Feb 25, 1983

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American playwright and author of many stage classics.

After years of obscurity, he became suddenly famous with The Glass Menagerie, closely reflecting his own unhappy family background. This heralded a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, and Sweet Bird of Youth. His later work attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences, and alcohol and drug dependence further inhibited his creative output.

Williams adapted much of his best work for the cinema, and also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Success is blocked by concentrating on it and planning for it... Success is shy - it won't come out while you're watching. success

Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going. life

All of us are guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress. God & work

We're all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress. work

We are all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life. being alone

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. nature

Death is one moment, and life is so many of them. death

To be free is to have achieved your life. life

Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death's the other. death

All good art is an indiscretion. art

For time is the longest distance between two places. time

You can be young without money but you can't be old without it. money

A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with. nature

Time is the longest distance between two places. time

In memory everything seems to happen to music. music

Success and failure are equally disastrous. failure & success

When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone. being alone

St. Patrick's Day March 17, 2025

There is no language like the Irish for soothing and quieting. 3 quotes from John Millington Synge

3 quotes from John Millington Synge

Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy. 28 quotes from William Butler Yeats

28 quotes from William Butler Yeats

Geographically, Ireland is a medium-sized rural island that is slowly but steadily being consumed by sheep. 27 more wisdom & wit from Dave Barry

27 more wisdom & wit from Dave Barry

We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English. 74 sayings from Winston Churchill

74 sayings from Winston Churchill