William Goldman Quotes

When we use terms we get confused, yet we have no other way.

She spoke perfect English, which led to considerable trouble. She couldn't understand us at all.

You guys are both saying the same thing. The only reason you're arguing is because you're using different words.

Confusion of sign and object is original sin coeval with the word.

Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.

The fact is that much misunderstanding is often caused by our modern attempts to limit too strictly the meaning of a Greek word.

It depends on what the meaning of “is” is.

The Doctor says, "You'll live to be 60!" "I AM 60!" "See, what did I tell you?"

When one man speaks to another man who doesn't understand him, and when a man who's speaking no longer understands, it's metaphysics.

Are you having performance issues?” I asked in surprise. “Bite your tongue,” Vlad said, with a snort. “I was seeing if Dermot understood sign language, but from the look on his face, it seems not.

I think I get misinterpreted and misunderstood a lot.

I was once told by someone wise that writing is perilous as you cannot always guarantee your words will be read in the spirit in which they were written.

You have to put up with the risk of being misunderstood if you are going to try to communicate.

So I went down the local supermarket, I said "I want to make a complaint, this vinegar's got lumps in it", he said "Those are pickled onions".

The trouble was that he was talking in philosophy but they were listening in gibberish.

Men tighten the knot of confusion Into perfect misunderstanding.

I actually don't understand a word Paula's saying anymore. It's like a new language.

Sometimes I feel like I'm making a connection with a stranger, but then it turns out I'm not. Like, I was in a mall, and I saw this lady hitting her kid. So I went up to her, and I was like, "Yeah, get him!" She got all mad at me. I was like, "I'm on your side here."

I wrote a letter to my Dad - I wrote, "I really enjoy being here," but I accidentally wrote rarely instead of really. But I still wanted to use it, so I wrote, "I rarely drive steamboats, Dad - there's a lot of stuff you don't know about me. Quit trying to act like I'm a steamboat operator." This letter took a harsh turn right away.

I went to a garage sale. 'How much for the garage' 'It's not for sale.'

Let me try once more," Milo said in an effort to explain. "In other words--" "You mean you have other words?" cried the bird happily. "Well, by all means, use them. You're certainly not doing very well with the ones you have now.

This morning my dad called me up and said, 'So, tonight's your last show, huh.' And I said, 'No, Dad, that's someone else.'

I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this.

What I mean and what I say is two different things," the BFG announced rather grandly.