Waiting for Godot Quotes

Waiting for Godot Quotes

1. “There’s nothing to be done.”

P. 1 This, the opening sentence of the play, is uttered by Estragon who is having trouble with his boot. It sets a tone of despair that indeed there is nothing that can be done
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2. “People are bloody ignorant apes.”

P. 4 Estragon makes this response to Vladimir’s statement that one of the thieves that was crucified next to Jesus was saved. Vladimir wonders why, if the Evangelists wrote four different accounts of Christ’s death, does only one mention the thief’s salvation. The passage occurs immediately before Godot is first mentioned and suggests that people are ignorant for believing in a god-like being that never appears.

3. “No use struggling…No use wriggling…The essential doesn't change.”

P. 9 Estragon and Vladimir are, like all human beings, dependent upon each other. They take turns soothing each other in an attempt to alleviate the overwhelming despair they feel in their long, long wait for Godot to appear.

4. “Yes, gentlemen, I cannot go for long without the society of my likes… even when the likeness is an imperfect one.”

P. 11 Pozzo condescendingly tells Estragon and Vladimir that he would like to spend time with them even though they are not perfect. Like all humans, Pozzo is lonely and seeks out the company of others even if they do not meet his standards. However, Estragon and Vladimir view Pozzo as a diversion for their unceasing boredom. This illustrates Beckett’s theme of human dependence.

5. “The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops…let us not then speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier than its predecessors.”

P. 17 In this dark existential play Beckett would have us believe that humankind resides in a state of constant despair. Life is meaningless. Try as we might to change our lot, we are helpless in an indifferent universe and frozen by inertia.

6. “After having sucked all the good out of him you chuck him away like a . . . like a banana skin.”

P. 17 Pozzo has known Lucky for sixty years and has come to recognize that without him he wouldn’t have learned half of what he knows. Yet, he is willing to sell him at a fair because he is no longer of use. Estragon is appalled by this and perhaps is fearful that one day Vladimir will also replace him.

7. “Pale for weariness…of climbing heaven and gazing on the likes of us.”

P. 31 Estragon says this to Vladimir who contemplates the moon after the boy leaves with the message that Godot will not arrive but will appear tomorrow. Not only is humankind weary of waiting, but even the universe itself is tired. This, however, lessens the existentialist ideal that the universe is indifferent.

8. “Let us not waste our time in idle discourse!…Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!”

P. 51 Inertia or immobility is a factor in Beckett’s vision of the desperate and discouraging human condition. Although Estragon and Vladimir seem not to remember the past, there remain indications that they do recall occasional events but are, despite their best efforts, simply incapable of change, and thus remain frozen instead. Vladimir however wants to change and cries out in an effort to help Pozzo, and metaphorically all of humankind.

9. “Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries… but habit is a great deadener.”

P. 59 Here Beckett conflates the circularity of birth and death. Despite its best intentions, humankind ultimately is incapable of motion and consequently of change. Continued inertia, in the form of habit, has left us frozen.

10. “Was I sleeping, while the others suffered? Am I sleeping now? Tomorrow, when I wake, or think I do, what shall I say of today? That with Estragon my friend, at this place, until the fall of night, I waited for Godot?”

P. 59 For the last fifty years, Vladimir and Estragon have been waiting every evening at dusk for the arrival of Godot who never comes but sends a boy to tell them that he will surely come tomorrow. The admonition to wait for Godot, whom they have never seen, rules their entire life. They constantly threaten to leave but are incapable of doing so because of the purpose of their life—to wait for Godot.

Quote : "To every man his little cross. Till he dies. And is forgotten." (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II , Quote ID :1218)

Quote : "We always find something to give us the impression we exist" (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II , Quote ID :1219)

Quote : "Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed." (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II , Quote ID :1220)

Quote : "But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!" (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II

Quote : "The blind have no notion of time. The things of time are hidden from them too." (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II , Quote ID :1222)

Quote : "I don't remember having met anyone yesterday. But tomorrow I won't remember having met anyone today. So don't count on me to enlighten you." (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II , Quote ID :1223)

Quote : "They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more." (Author : Samuel Becket , Book : Waiting For Godot, Act II

Let's go. Yes, let's go. (They do not move)." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, Act I

"Nothing to be done." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. Let us not then speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier than its predecessors. Let us not speak well of it either. Let us not speak of it at all. It is true the population has increased." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the gravedigger puts on the forceps." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"I don't seem to be able... (long hesitation) to depart." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"Such is life." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"Our Saviour. Two thieves. One is supposed to have been saved and the other (he searches for the contrary of saved) damned." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"Saved from what?" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"We are all born mad. Some remain so." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! (Pause. Vehemently.) Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it before it is too late!" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"But that is not the question. Why are we here, that is the question? And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come." - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"To-morrow, when I wake or think I do, what shall I say of to-day?" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

"We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste... In an instant, all will vanish and we'll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot