Quotes from The Iceman Cometh

Eugene O'Neill ·  240 pages

Rating: (6.9K votes)


“To hell with the truth! As the history of the world proves, the truth has no bearing on anything. It's irrelevant and immaterial, as the lawyers say. The lie of a pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober.”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


“God damn you, stop shoving your rotten soul in my lap!”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


“You can't be too careful about work. It's the most dangerous habit known to medical science.”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


“LARRY--(with increasing bitter intensity, more as if he were fighting with himself than with Hickey) I'm afraid to live, am I?--and even more afraid to die! So I sit here, with my pride drowned on the bottom of a bottle, keeping drunk so I won't see myself shaking in my britches with fright, or hear myself whining and praying: Beloved Christ, let me live a little longer at any price! If it's only for a few days more, or a few hours even, have mercy, Almighty God, and let me still clutch greedily to my yellow heart this sweet treasure, this jewel beyond price, the dirty, stinking bit of withered old flesh which is my beautiful little life! (He laughs with a sneering, vindictive self-loathing, staring inward at himself with contempt and hatred. Then abruptly he makes Hickey again the antagonist.) You think you'll make me admit that to myself?”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


“You’ll say to yourself, I’m just an old man who is scared of life, but even more scared of dying. So I’m keeping drunk and hanging on to life at any price, and what of it?”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh



“And I took a seat in the grandstand of philosophical detachment to fall asleep observing the cannibals do their death dance.”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


“(General Wetjoen talking about the Boer War)Let him come! I have seen them come before -- at Margesfontein, Spion Kiopje, Modder River. Stepping into battle, left right left right, waving their silly swords, so afraid they couldn't show off how brave they was, and with mine rifle I kills them so easy!”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


“Stay passed out, that's the right dope. There ain't any cool willow trees- except you grow your own in a bottle.”
― Eugene O'Neill, quote from The Iceman Cometh


About the author

Eugene O'Neill
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
Born date October 16, 1888
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Are you even listening to yourself right now? You sound like you’re from the nineteen hundreds, not the two thousands." I pointed at the bed. "That thing has been laid straight more times than should be possible, but she managed it somehow; since she could sink the Titanic between her thighs, and still have room. Not to mention that they have this marvelous invention called a condom, and thank fucking Christ for that, since it prevents that troll from touching my baby making treasure.”
― Katelin LaMontagne, quote from Surge


“All that I can tell you is that nothing can justify it, not even the most sacred ends in the world, not even peace itself, understand me?'

'Yes, Mom. Nothing can justify our scars.”
― Refaat Alareer, quote from Gaza Writes Back (#1)


“can do all things uthrough 6Christ who strengthens me.”
― quote from The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV


“I knew I chose you for a reason.” She playfully punched his shoulder. “You chose me? If I remember correctly, Fallon MacLeod—and I always remember correctly—I was the one who picked you. You wanted nothing to do with me.”
― Donna Grant, quote from Darkest Highlander


“Equality of condition, though it is certainly a basic requirement for justice, is nevertheless among the greatest and most uncertain ventures of modern mankind. The more equal conditions are, the less explanation there is for the differences that actually exist between people; and thus all the more unequal do individuals and groups become.”
― Hannah Arendt, quote from The Origins of Totalitarianism


Interesting books

All That Matters
(1.4K)
All That Matters
by Susan X. Meagher
The Imperfectionists
(43K)
The Imperfectionists
by Tom Rachman
A Killing Frost
(15.7K)
A Killing Frost
by John Marsden
My Unfair Godmother
(6.8K)
My Unfair Godmother
by Janette Rallison
Redshirts
(68.5K)
Redshirts
by John Scalzi
River of Gods
(4.8K)
River of Gods
by Ian McDonald

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.