John Osborne Quotes & Sayings

There's no such thing as failure - just waiting for success. — John Osborne

I suppose people of our generation aren't able to die for good causes any longer. We had all that done for us, in the thirties and the forties, when we were still kids ... There aren't any good, brave causes left. (Jimmy Porter) — John Osborne

That voice that cries out doesn't have to be a weakling's does it? — John Osborne

Jimmy: The injustice of it is almost perfect! The wrong people going
hungry, the wrong people being loved, the wrong people dying! — John Osborne

Alison: I don't think I want anything more to do with love. Any more. I can't take it on.
Cliff: You're too young to start giving up. Too young, and too lovely. — John Osborne

Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp-post what it feels about dogs.
[Time Magazine, October 31, 1977] — John Osborne

And even in the hatred of the majority, there's a kind of triumph because I know that, although they'd never admit it, they secretly respect me. — John Osborne

A refined sort of butcher, a woman is. — John Osborne

Here we are, we're alone in the universe, there's no God, it just seems that it all began by something as simple as sunlight striking on a piece of rock. And here we are. We've only got ourselves. Somehow, we've just got to make a go of it. We've only ourselves. — John Osborne

Anyone who's never watched somebody die is suffering from a pretty bad case of virginity. For twelve months, I watched my father dying - when I was ten years old. — John Osborne

Heroes, whatever high ideas we may have of them, are mortal and not divine. We are all as God made us and many of us much worse. — John Osborne

Marriage is rather a silly habit. — John Osborne

Asking a working writer what he feels about critics is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs. — John Osborne

Go on - but don't think you can kill my confidence. I've had experts doing it for years. — John Osborne

Jimmy: (in a low, resigned voice) They all want to scape from the pain of being alive. And, most of all, from love. ( ... ) It's no good to fool yourself about love. You can't fall into it like a soft job, without dirtying up your hands. — John Osborne

Jimmy: You'll end up like one of those chocolate merengues my wife is so fond of [Alison starts banging jars] ... sweet and sticky on the outside, and sink your teeth in it [savouring every word]-inside, all white, messy and disgusting. [offering teapot sweetly to Helena] Milk? — John Osborne

Jimmy: I hope you won't make the mistake of thinking for one moment that I am a gentleman. — John Osborne

In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea. — John Osborne

They spend their time looking forward to the past. — John Osborne

Writers don't need love; all they require is money. — John Osborne

The schoolteacher is certainly underpaid as a childminder, but ludicrously overpaid as an educator. — John Osborne

The British public has always had an unerring taste for ungifted amateurs. — John Osborne

Laughter's the nearest we ever get, or should get, to sainthood. It's the state of grace that saves most of us from contempt. — John Osborne

You're hurt because everything is changed. Jimmy is hurt because everything is the same. And neither of you can face it. Something's gone wrong somewhere, hasn't it? — John Osborne

Censorship is the commonest social blasphemy because it is mostly concealed, built into us by indolence, self-interest and cowardice. — John Osborne

The whole point of a sacrifice is that you give up something you never really wanted in the first place. People are doing it around you all the time. They give up their careers, say - or their beliefs - or sex. — John Osborne

Why don't we have a little game? Let's pretend that we're human beings, and that we're actually alive. — John Osborne

There will be a quick rash of hairy American filth, but it shouldn't threaten the existence of decent, serious British filth. — John Osborne

Jimmy: One day, when I'm no longer spending my days running a sweet-stall, I may write a book about us all. It's all here. (slapping his forehead) Written in flames a mile high. And it won't be recollected in tranquillity either, picking daffodils with Auntie Wordsworth. It'll be recollected in fire, and blood. My blood. — John Osborne

Don't clap too hard - it's a very old building. — John Osborne

Why do I do this every Sunday? Even the book reviews seem to be the same as last week's. Different books same reviews. — John Osborne

It is widely held that too much wine will dull a man's desire. Indeed it will in a dull man. — John Osborne

To be as vehement as he is is to be almost non-committal. — John Osborne

You see I learnt at an early age what it was to be angry - angry and helpless. And I can never forget it. I knew more about - love ... betrayal ... and death, when I was ten years old than you will probably ever know in your life. — John Osborne

I never deliberately set out to shock, but when people don't walk out of my plays I think there is something wrong. — John Osborne

It is not true that drink changes a man's character. It may reveal it more clearly. — John Osborne

George Bernard Shaw writes like a Pakistani who has learned English when he was twelve years old in order to become an accountant. — John Osborne

It is easy to answer the ultimate questions - it saves you bothering with the immediate ones. — John Osborne

Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm - that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I'm alive! — John Osborne

It's no good fooling about with love you know. You can't fall into it like a soft job without dirtying up your hands. It takes muscle and guts. If you can't bear the thought of messing up your nice, tidy soul, you better give up the whole idea of life and become a saint, because you'll never make it as a human being. It's either this world ... or the next. — John Osborne

Heaven be thanked, we live in such an age when no man dies for love except upon the stage. — John Osborne

Royalty is the gold filling in a mouthful of decay — John Osborne

I must say it's pretty dreary living in the American Age - unless you're an American of course. Perhaps all our children will be Americans. — John Osborne

Don't be afraid of being emotional. You won't die of it. — John Osborne

I must be the luckiest man in the world. Not only am I bisexual, I am also Welsh. — John Osborne

If you've no world of your own, it's rather pleasant to regret the passing of someone else's. — John Osborne

We all of us waited for him to die. The family sent him a check every month, and hoped he'd get on with it quietly, without too much vulgar fuss. — John Osborne