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Laughter's the nearest we ever get, or should get, to sainthood. It's the state of grace that saves most of us from contempt.

John Osborne

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John Osborne
Age: 65 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 12
Died: 1994
Died: December 24
Actor
Film Actor
Playwright
Screenwriter
Writer
London
England
John James Osborne
Laughter
Grace
State
States
Sainthood
Ever
Nearest
Saves
Humour
Contempt

More quotes by John Osborne

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They spend their time looking forward to the past.
John Osborne
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Here we are, we're alone in the universe, there's no God, it just seems that it all began by something as simple as sunlight striking on a piece of rock. And here we are. We've only got ourselves. Somehow, we've just got to make a go of it. We've only ourselves.
John Osborne
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You see I learnt at an early age what it was to be angry - angry and helpless. And I can never forget it. I knew more about - love... betrayal... and death, when I was ten years old than you will probably ever know in your life.
John Osborne
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Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm - that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I'm alive!
John Osborne
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There's no such thing as failure - just waiting for success.
John Osborne
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The schoolteacher is certainly underpaid as a childminder, but ludicrously overpaid as an educator.
John Osborne
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Writers don't need love all they require is money.
John Osborne
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Royalty is the gold filling in a mouthful of decay
John Osborne
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Let's pretend that we're human beings and that we're actually alive.
John Osborne
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It is easy to answer the ultimate questions - it saves you bothering with the immediate ones.
John Osborne
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Don't be afraid of being emotional. You won't die of it.
John Osborne
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Marriage is rather a silly habit.
John Osborne
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I must say it's pretty dreary living in the American Age - unless you're an American of course. Perhaps all our children will be Americans.
John Osborne
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Asking a writer what he thinks about criticism is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs.
John Osborne
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The whole point of a sacrifice is that you give up something you never really wanted in the first place. People are doing it around you all the time. They give up their careers, say -- or their beliefs -- or sex.
John Osborne
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Don't clap too hard - it's a very old building.
John Osborne
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We all of us waited for him to die. The family sent him a check every month, and hoped he'd get on with it quietly, without too much vulgar fuss.
John Osborne
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Go on - but don't think you can kill my confidence. I've had experts doing it for years.
John Osborne
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It is not true that drink changes a man's character. It may reveal it more clearly.
John Osborne
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George Bernard Shaw writes like a Pakistani who has learned English when he was twelve years old in order to become an accountant.
John Osborne