The Irish-born playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett, b. Dublin, Apr. 13, 1906, d. Dec. 22, 1989, is best known for the absurdist drama "Waiting for Godot" (1952; Eng. trans., 1954). First performed in Paris on Jan. 5, 1953, the play received worldwide acclaim and became the first of a series of critical successes, some of them written earlier. Beckett came from a Protestant Anglo-Irish family, but much of his work was first written in French. After graduating with a degree in Romance languages from Trinity College, Dublin, Beckett spent two years (1928-30) in Paris as an exchange lecturer. Here he met James Joyce and became a member of his circle. In 1930, Beckett returned to Trinity as a lecturer.

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We are all born mad. Some remain so. If I was dead, I wouldnÂ’t know I was dead. ThatÂ’s the only thing I have against death. I want to enjoy my death. The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. . . . Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world. My mistakes are my life. Just under the surface I shall be, all together at first, then separate and drift, through all the earth and perhaps in the end through a cliff into the sea, something of me. A ton of worms in an acre, that is a wonderful thought, a ton of worms, I believe it. all these calculations yes explanations yes the whole story from beginning to end yes completely false yes To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now. More Quotes by Samuel Beckett: Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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