Quotes from Death of a Salesman

“Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be … when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away - a man is not a piece of fruit.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“I stopped in the middle of that building and I saw — the sky. I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and time time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and said to myself, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am! Why can't I say that, Willy?”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Sometimes...it's better for a man just to walk away.
But if you can't walk away?
I guess that's when it's tough.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“I don't say he's a great man. Willie Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Pop, I'm nothing! I'm nothing, Pop. Can't you understand that? There's no spite in it any more. I'm just what I am, that's all.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Be loving to him. Because he’s only a little boat looking for a harbor.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“A man is not a bird, to come and go with the springtime.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Well, I spent six or seven years after high school trying to work myself up. Shipping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or another. And it's a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still — that's how you build a future.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“The only thing you've got in this world is what you can sell.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Will you let me go for Christ's sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“It's a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for a two week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And still-that's how you build a future.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Willy Loman: I don't want change, I want Swiss cheese!”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there’s no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple spots on your hat and your finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream boy, it comes with the territory.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“Charley: He won't starve. None a them starve. Forget about him.
Willy: Then what have I got to remember?”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“What a woman! They broke the mould when they made her.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“On the road I want to grab you sometimes and just kiss the life outa you”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“When I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“HAPPY: All right, boy. I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have-- to come out number-one man.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“He's just a big stupid man to you, but I tell you there's more good in him than in may other people.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back--that's an earthquake. And then you get a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished.”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“I get here, and I don't know what to do with myself. I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here I know that all I've done is to waste my life”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

“I’m one-dollar an hour, Willy! I tried seven states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour! Do you gather my meaning? I’m not bringing home any prizes anymore and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home!”
― Arthur Miller, quote from Death of a Salesman

About the author

Popular quotes

“She gasped when she recognised it as envy. For the briefest beat of time, she had wondered what it might feel like to have no children, to not have the worry, the desperate fretting that had accompanied every waking moment since walking from Mrs Janosik’s office. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to think that! She closed her eyes,”
― Amanda Prowse, quote from The Food of Love

“Sometimes I sense a deep anger welling up, and have to choke it back.”
― George Saunders, quote from CivilWarLand in Bad Decline

“If we win by losing ourselves, by losing what we were fighting for, then we never really win.”
― Meg Collett, quote from Fear University

“You're not a moron. You're only a case of arrested development.”
― Ernest Hemingway, quote from Fiesta

“How, after all, can we convince ourselves to want the things we already have? THE STOICS THOUGHT they had an answer to this question.”
― William B. Irvine, quote from A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.