black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.

William Golding

It may be — I hope it is — redemption to guess and perhaps perceive that the universe, the hell which we see for all its beauty, vastness, majesty, is only part of a whole which is quite unimaginable.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Beauty Guess Hell Hope Majesty May Perhaps Redemption See Universe Vastness
Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!
WILLIAM GOLDING

Baby Cry Right Save Something Useless
I hope my books make statements about our general condition.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Book Condition General Hope Make Statement
I don’t think they [contemporary writers] read me either. I mean, if we’re concerned genuinely with writing, I think we probably get on with our work.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Concern Contemporary Either Genuinely Mean Read Think Write
We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Best English Everything Obey Rule Savage Them
Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?
WILLIAM GOLDING

Beast Close Fancy Kill Knew Part Something Think
How would I myself live in this proposed society? How long would it be before I went stark staring mad?
WILLIAM GOLDING

Before Long Mad Myself Proposed Society Stark Start
It wasn’t until I was 37 that I grasped the great truth that you’ve got to write your own books and nobody else’s, and then everything followed from there.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Book Else Everything Follow Grasp Great Nobody Own Seven Thirty Truth Until
Honestly, I haven’t the time to read contemporary writers. I know this is awful, but in the main it is true.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Awful Contemporary Honestly Main Raed Time True Write
Together, joined in effort by the burden, they staggered up the last steep of the mountain. Together, they chanted One! Two! Three! and crashed the log on to the great pile. Then they stepped back, laughing with triumphant pleasure.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Burden Chant Effort Join Last Mountain Sleep Staggered Together Two
If faces were different when lit from above or below — what was a face? What was anything?
WILLIAM GOLDING

Above Anything Below Face Facem Different When
The greatest pleasure is not – say – sex or geometry. It is just understanding. And if you can get people to understand their own humanity – well, that’s the job of the writer.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Geometry Get Greatest Humanity Own People Pleasure Say Sex Understanding
He who rides the sea of the Nile must have sails woven of patience.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Nile Ride Sall Sea Wovenm Patience
He became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control over living things. He talked to them, urging them, ordering them. Driven back by the tide, his footprints became bays in which they were trapped and gave him the illusion of mastery.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Absorb Become Beyond Control Describe Excercise Felt Happiness Himself Living Thing
One tries to tell a truth, and one hopes that the truth has a general application rather than just a specific one.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Application General Hope One Specific Tell Truth Try
His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Close Come Crowd Knowledge Memories Min Pig Struggling Them
This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll have fun.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Fetch Fun Good Grownup Island Until
Heaven lies around us in our infancy.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Around Heaven Infancy Lie Our
I’ve come across a novel called The Palm-Wine Drinkard, by the Nigerian writer Amos Tutuola, that is really remarkable because it is a kind of fantasy of West African mythology all told in West African English which, of course, is not the same as standard English.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Call Come Cross Dimkard Kind Novel Palm Person Really Remarkable Wine Writer
An orotundity, which I define as Nobelitis a pomposity in which one is treated as representative of more than oneself by someone conscious of representing more than himself.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Conscious Define Less More Nobelities One Orotundity Proposity Representative Someone Treat
Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?
WILLIAM GOLDING

Better Break Hunt Law Rescue Thing Up
We’re not savages. We’re English.
WILLIAM GOLDING

English Language Savage
A star appeared…and was momentarily eclipsed by some movement.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Appear Eclipse Momentarily Movement Some Star
The writer probably knows what he meant when he wrote a book, but he should immediately forget what he meant when he’s written it.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Book Forget Immediately Know Meant Probably Writer Written Wrote
The rules!” shouted Ralph, “you’re breaking the rules!” “Who cares?
WILLIAM GOLDING

Break Care Country People Person Rule Shout
Ralph… would treat the day’s decisions as though he were playing chess. The only trouble was that he would never be a very good chess player.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Chess Country Decision People Play Through
I do like people to read the books twice, because I write my novels about ideas which concern me deeply and I think are important, and therefore I want people to take them seriously. And to read it twice of course is taking it seriously.
WILLIAM GOLDING

Book Concern Deeply Idea Important Like Novel People Raed Therefore Think Twice

the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.

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the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.

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Popular Authors

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