We will not think noble because we are not noble. We will not live in beautiful harmony because there is no such thing in this world, nor should there be. We promise only to do our best and to live out our lives. Dear God, that's all we can promise in truth.
Download Image Share on X Share on Facebook

About This Quote

About Lillian Hellman

Lillian Hellman was a 20th-century American dramatist and screenwriter. Lillian Florence Hellman was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was blacklisted after her appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–1952. Read more on Wikipedia →

More quotes by Lillian Hellman

“It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or time or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you.”
— Lillian Hellman
inspirational

“I'm too old to recover, too narrow to forgive myself.”
— Lillian Hellman
atonement forgiveness regret

“Writers are interesting people, but often mean and petty.”
— Lillian Hellman
writers

“I like people who refuse to speak until they are ready to speak.”
— Lillian Hellman
reality respect truth

“Well, there are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. Then there are people who stand around and watch them eat it. (Softly) Sometimes I think it...”
— Lillian Hellman
avarice greed locust southern-women

“Nobody outside of a baby carriage or a judge's chamber believes in an unprejudiced point of view.”
— Lillian Hellman
point-of-view prejudice
View all quotes by Lillian Hellman →