Are we savages or what?
WILLIAM GOLDINGAre we savages or what?
WILLIAM GOLDINGWhat a man does defiles him, not what is done by others.
WILLIAM GOLDINGAt the moment of vision, the eyes see nothing.
WILLIAM GOLDINGOf the authors writing in English, I’d mention Shakespeare and Milton. But all this is terribly high-hat and makes me sound very po-faced, I’m afraid; however, I just happen to like these enormous, swinging, great creatures.
WILLIAM GOLDINGPercival was mouse-coloured and had not been very attractive even to his mother.
WILLIAM GOLDINGThe beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.
WILLIAM GOLDINGWe’re all mad, the whole damned race. We’re wrapped in illusions, delusions, confusions about the penetrability of partitions, we’re all mad and in solitary confinement.
WILLIAM GOLDINGPeople don’t help much.
WILLIAM GOLDINGThe candle-buds opened their wide white flowers….Their scent spilled out into the air and took possession of the island.
WILLIAM GOLDINGHow would I myself live in this proposed society? How long would it be before I went stark staring mad?
WILLIAM GOLDINGHe found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life,where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching one’s feet.
WILLIAM GOLDINGI’m scared of him,” said Piggy, “and that’s why I know him. If you’re scared of someone you hate him but you can’t stop thinking about him. You kid yourself he’s all right really, an’ then when you see him again; it’s like asthma an’ you can’t breathe.
WILLIAM GOLDINGMy yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder.
WILLIAM GOLDINGI hope my books make statements about our general condition.
WILLIAM GOLDINGEvery novel is a biography. Well, then, this is a novel [The Paper Men] which is a biography that is pretending to be an autobiography. That’s what you could say about it.
WILLIAM GOLDINGAnd I’ve been wearing specs since I was three.
WILLIAM GOLDING