“Every man alive in the world is a beggar of one sort or another, every last one of them, great and small.”

— William Saroyan, "The Beggars," in The William Saroyan Reader, 1958

About William Saroyan

1908 – 1981

American writer, author of "The Human Comedy".

“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell.”

“All things lie dark in possibility.”

“Genius is play, and man's capacity for achieving genius is infinite, and many may achieve genius only through play.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”