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00f9af5
|
I must be overtired', Buttercup managed. 'The excitement and all.' 'Rest then', her mother cautioned. 'Terrible things can happen when you're overtired. I was overtired the night your father proposed.
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irony
william-goldman
the-princess-bride
repartee
tired
tiredness
|
William Goldman |
|
646f12a
|
And when she at last came out, her eyes were dry. Her parents stared up from their silent breakfast at her. They both started to rise but she put a hand out, stopped them. 'I can care for myself, please,' and she set about getting some food. They watched her closely. In point of fact, she had never looked as well. She had entered her room as just an impossibly lovely girl. The woman who emerged was a trifle thinner, a great deal wiser, an..
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loss
love
|
William Goldman |
|
6d91c62
|
Writing is finally about one thing: going into a room alone and doing it. Putting words on paper that have never been there in quite that way before. And although you are physically by yourself, the haunting Demon never leaves you, that Demon being the knowledge of your own terrible limitations, your hopeless inadequacy, the impossibility of ever getting it right. No matter how diamond-bright your ideas are dancing in your brain, on paper t..
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|
writing
self-doubt
doubts
|
William Goldman |
|
e0af63e
|
The Prince found Buttercup waiting unhappily outside his chamber doors. It's my letter,' she began. 'I cannot make it right.' Come in, come in,' the Prince said gently. 'Maybe we can help you.' She sat down in the same chair as before. 'All right, I'll close my eyes and listen; read to me.' Westley, my passion, my sweet, my only my own. Come back, come back. I shall kill myself otherwise. Yours in torment, Buttercup.' She looked at Humperdi..
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love
|
William Goldman |
|
ffec959
|
Sonny, don't you tell me what's worthwhile--true love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. Everybody knows that.
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William Goldman |
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8341256
|
Look. (Grown-ups skip this paragraph) I'm not about to tell you this book has a tragic ending. I already said in the very first line how it was my favorite in all the world. But there's a lot of bad stuff coming.
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warnings
|
William Goldman |
|
9ee5e62
|
I must court her now,' said the Prince. 'Leave us alone for a minute.' He rode the white expertly down the hill. Buttercup had never seen such a giant beast. Or such a rider. 'I am your Prince and you will marry me,' Humperdinck said. Buttercup whispered, 'I am your servant and I refuse.' 'I am your Prince and you cannot refuse.' 'I am your loyal servant and I just did.' 'Refusal means death.' 'Kill me then.' 'I am your Prince and I..
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marriage
love
|
William Goldman |
|
d16f0fb
|
Existence was really very simple when you did what you were told.
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|
William Goldman |
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778479b
|
I have stayed these years in my hovel because of you. I have taught myself languages because of you. I have made my body strong because I thought you might be pleased by a strong body. I have lived my life with only the prayer that some sudden dawn you might glance in my direction. I have not known a moment in years when the sight of you did not send my heart careening against my rib cage. I have not known a night when your visage did not a..
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|
William Goldman |
|
93263dc
|
See?" Fezzik pointed then. Far down, at the very bottom of the mountain path, the man in black could be seen running. "Inigo is beaten." Inconceivable!" exploded the Sicilian. Fezzik never dared disagree with the hunchback. "I'm so stupid," Fezzik nodded. "Inigo has not lost to the man in black, he has defeated him. And to prove it he has put on all the man in black's clothes and masks and hoods and boots and gained eighty pounds."
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|
William Goldman |
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ef299d7
|
Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.
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|
William Goldman |
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4515c79
|
You could concentrate much more deeply when you were alone with agony.
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|
sorrow
|
William Goldman |
|
6a4204b
|
Inigo Montoya: He's right on top of us. I wonder if he is using the same wind we are using.
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|
inigo
|
William Goldman |
|
b410c40
|
There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours.
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|
William Goldman |
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3fe4bb0
|
I don't like killing a girl," the Spaniard said. "God does it all the time; if it doesn't bother Him, don't let it worry you."
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|
|
William Goldman |
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bc11f91
|
I say you are a coward and you are; I think you hunt only to reassure yourself that you are not what you are: the weakest thing to ever walk the Earth. He will come for me and then we will be gone, and you will be helpless for all your hunting, because Westley and I are joined by the bond of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.
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|
|
William Goldman |
|
39e5f20
|
And what have I done?" What? WHAT?...You've stolen them." With that, Cornelia fled, but Buttercup understood; she knew who "them" was. The boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattledskulled clodpated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed BOYS." --
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|
|
William Goldman |
|
8a20098
|
To the pain means this: if we duel and you win, death for me. If we duel and I win, life for you. But life on my terms. The first thing you lose will be your feet. Below the ankle. You will have stumps available to use within six months. Then your hands, at the wrists. They heal somewhat quicker. Five months is a fair average. Next your nose. No smell of dawn for you. Followed by your tongue. Deeply cut away. Not even a stump left. And then..
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|
William Goldman |
|
05b6684
|
Everyone had told her, since she became a princess-in-training, that she was very likely the most beautiful woman in the world. Now she was going to be the richest and the most powerful as well. Don't expect too much from life, Buttercup told herself as she rode along. Learn to be satisfied with what you have.
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|
William Goldman |
|
ced79c5
|
It was only when the giant got halfway down the incline that he suddenly, happily, burst into flame and continued his trip saying, "NO SURVIVORS, NO SURVIVORS!" in a manner that could only indicate deadly sincerity. It was seeing him happily burning and advancing that startled the Brute Squad to screaming. And once that happened, why, everybody panicked and ran..."
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|
humor
|
William Goldman |
|
47f44e0
|
Flailing and thrashing, Buttercup wept and tossed and paced and wept some more, and there have been three great cases of jealousy since David of Galilee was first afflicted with the emotion when he could no longer stand the fact that his neighbor Saul's cactus outshone his own. (Originally, jealousy pertained solely to plants, other people's cactus or ginkgoes, or, later, when there was grass, grass, which is why, even to this day, we say t..
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William Goldman |
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f518008
|
I just know once you're over your emotional outbursts, you'll come up with-' I mean if we even had a wheelbarrow, that would be something,' Westley said.
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|
William Goldman |
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87398bc
|
Westley and I are joined by the bond of love and you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.
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|
|
William Goldman |
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696e31a
|
Westly, Westly, Westly, Westly, Westly,--darling Westly, adored Westly, sweet perfect Westly, whisper that I have a chance to win your love." And with that, she dared the bravest thing she'd ever done: she looked right into his eyes. He closed the door in her face."
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|
|
William Goldman |
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fe5266d
|
The boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattleskulled clod-pated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lunk-knobbed boys. How could anybody accuse her of stealing them? Why would anybody want them anyway?
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|
William Goldman |
|
e07b104
|
Inconceivable!
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|
|
William Goldman |
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f9e005e
|
While he was watching the ships, Buttercup shoved him with all her strength remaining. Down went the man in black. "You can die too for all I care," she said, and then she turned away. Words followed her. Whispered from afar, weak and warm and familiar. "As...you...wish..."
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William Goldman |
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5d0b5eb
|
I love you. Okay? Want it louder? I LOVE YOU. Spell it out, should I? I ell-oh-vee-ee why-oh-you. Want it backward? You love I.
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|
William Goldman |
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7586f0f
|
Well, I'm an abridger, so I'm entitled to a few ideas of my own. Did they make it? Was the pirate ship there? You can answer it for yourself, but, for me, I say yes it was. And yes, they got away. And got their strength back and had lots of adventures and more than their share of laughs. But that doesn't mean I think they had a happy ending, either. Because, in my opinion, anyway, they squabbled a lot, and Buttercup lost her looks eventual..
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|
love
|
William Goldman |
|
4e98ed3
|
Enough about my beauty," Buttercup said. "Everybody always talks about how beautiful I am. I've got a mind, Westley. Talk about that."
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|
women
humor
intelligence
minds
wit
|
William Goldman |
|
605b82f
|
Tr...ooooo...luv...' Fezzik grabbed onto Inigo in panic and they both pivoted, staring at the man in black, who was silent again. '"True love," he said,' Inigo cried. 'You heard him - true love is what he wants to come back for. That's certainly worthwhile.' 'Sonny, don't you tell me what's worthwhile - true love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. Everybody knows that."
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|
William Goldman |
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d5d8ce5
|
I mean if we even had a wheelbarrow, that would be something.
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|
|
William Goldman |
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1421ccf
|
Inigo was in despair. Hard to find on the map (this was after maps) not because cartographers didn't know of its existence, but because when they visited to measure its precise dimensions, they became so depressed they began to drink and question everything, most notably why anyone would want to be something as stupid as a cartographer. It required constant travel, no one ever knew your name, and, most of all, why bother? There grew up, the..
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|
William Goldman |
|
e159ab3
|
The hollowness was in his arms and the world was snowing.
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|
weak
strength
william-goldman
the-princess-bride
strong
snow
|
William Goldman |
|
d096f12
|
Buttercup's mother hesitated, then put her stew spoon down. (This was after stew, but so is everything. When the first man first clambered from the slime and made his first home on land, what he had for supper that first night was stew.)
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William Goldman |
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cfaeaf1
|
When was the last time you read a book? The truth now. And picture books don't count-I mean something with print in it.
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|
reading
|
William Goldman |
|
552622e
|
Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
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|
|
William Goldman |
|
7cc90db
|
Inside and out, Westley's world was ripping apart and he could do nothing but crack along with it.
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|
William Goldman |
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93509a4
|
Let's look on the bright side: we're having an adventure, Fezzik, and most people live and die without being as lucky as we are.
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William Goldman |
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e6ba77a
|
I guess the most amazing thing about crying though is that when you're in it, you think it'll go on forever but it never really lasts half what you think. Not in terms of real time. In terms of real emotions, it's worse than you think, but not by the clock.
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|
William Goldman |
|
9a733b2
|
The tears that kept Buttercup company the remainder of the day were not at all like those that had blinded her into the tree trunk. Those were noisy and hot; they pulsed. These were silent and steady and all they did was remind her that she wasn't good enough. She was seventeen, and every male she'd ever known had crumbled at her feet and it meant nothing. The one time it really mattered, she wasn't good enough.
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|
tears
|
William Goldman |
|
977cf01
|
Westley closed his eyes. There was pain coming and he had to be ready for it. He had to prepare his brain, he had to get his mind controlled and safe from their efforts, so that they could not break him. He would not let them break him. He would hold together against anything and all. If only they gave him sufficient time to make ready, he knew he could defeat pain. It turned out they gave him sufficient time (it was months before the Machi..
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|
William Goldman |
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c368477
|
What kind of human person has a favorite eraser?
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|
|
William Goldman |
|
e54f0bf
|
Nobody knows anything...... Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one.
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|
humor
luck
|
William Goldman |