Ab figured that the chance of his recognizing it would be about the same as a burglar recognizing a dollar watch that happened to get caught for a minute on his vest button five years ago

— William Faulkner

A hack writer who would not have been considered fourth rate in Europe."(on Mark Twain)

— William Faulkner

All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection.

— William Faulkner

All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the base of our splendid failure to do the impossible.

— William Faulkner

All of us have failed to match our dream of perfection. I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible. If I could write all my work again, I'm convinced I could do it better. This is the healthiest condition for an artist. That's why he keeps working, trying again: he believes each time that this time he will do it, bring it off. Of course, he won't.

— William Faulkner

All of us [writers] failed to match our dream of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible. In my opinion, if I could write all my work again, I am convinced that I would do it better, which is the healthiest condition for an artist. That’s why he keeps on working, trying again; he believes each time that this time he will do it, bring it off. Of course, he won’t, which is why this condition is healthy. Once he did it, once he matched the work to the image, the dream, nothing would remain but to cut his throat, jump off the other side of that pinnacle of perfection into suicide. I’m a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can’t, and then tries the short story, which is the most demanding form after poetry. And, failing at that, only then does he take up novel writing.

— William Faulkner

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

— William Faulkner

... a man ain't so different from a horse or a mule, come long come short, except a mule or a horse has got a little more sense.

— William Faulkner

A man is the sum of his misfortunes. One day you'd think misfortune would get tired, but then time is your misfortune

— William Faulkner

Amid the pointing and the horror the clean flame.

— William Faulkner