Quotes from The Iceman Cometh

“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

Popular quotes

“...Life does have its twists and turns, and that certainly is true. However, one can predict the future with some degree of accuracy based on one's own knowledge of past events. And rare events do occur , but it is their lack of repetition that makes them rare.

I cannot alter the past, but the future is very much in my hands

I find that memories, especially from one's childhood, very often do not live up to the realities

Does anyone truly understand females? the more I am in their company the less i know. Their behavior is the opposite of everything in the natural order and flies in the face of logic.

Oh, I can see you are enjoying yourself. You have my heart, and now you will toy with it

She did believe that two souls could come together, so that the one would know if something had happened to the other despite distance or war.

The only way to get through life's rough spots is to laugh whenever possible”
― Mary Lydon Simonsen, quote from The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy

“Coincidence is usually mentioned only when something good happens. Whenever it’s something bad, it’s easier to blame someone, something.”
― Kate Griffin, quote from The Midnight Mayor

“as I said,I believe in fate.Things happen as they are meant to be.We just have to recognize our destiny.”
― Edward Rutherfurd, quote from Russka: the Novel of Russia

“We think it a very promising little war. A microcosm, as you might say, of world drama.”
― Evelyn Waugh, quote from Scoop

“She reached her waiting chair and shorthand pad, beside Leach, as a far-off erratic voice came indistinctly over the loudspeaker, and then suddenly broke out loudly and clearly. "—calling from Frankfurt am Main, this is Signal Corps Captain Foss calling from Frankfurt am Main. Do we have the White House in Washington?" Calmly Secretary of State Eaton addressed the microphone box. "This is the White House, Captain. This is the Secretary of State. We are assembled and ready for the conference call." "All right, sir. The President is waiting to speak to you." A muffled crossing of voices slapped against the loudspeaker, and then a jagged arrow of static, and at once T. C.'s hurried, bouncy, unceremonious voice was upon them in the Cabinet Room. "Arthur, are you there?”
― Irving Wallace, quote from The Man

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.