Death of a Salesman Quotes

Quote 1: "They don't need me in New York. I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England." Act 1, Part 1, pg. 4

Quote 2: "I simply asked him if he was making any money. Is that a criticism?" Act 1, Part 1, pg. 5

Quote 3: "I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here I know that all I've done is to waste my life." Act 1, Part 2, pg. 11

Quote 4: "probably congratulate [Biff] on [his] initiative" Act 1, Part 3, pg. 18

Quote 5: "the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates a personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want." Act 1, Part 3, pg. 21

Quote 6: "I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me." Act 1, Part 3, pg. 23

Quote 7: "when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich." Act 1, Part 7, pg. 33

Quote 8: "Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way." Act 1, Part 7, pg. 34

Quote 9: "kind of temporary about [him]self." Act 1, Part 7, pg. 36

Quote 10: "I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person." Act 1, Part 8, pg. 40

Quote 11: "personality always wins the day." Act 1, Part 8, pg. 48

Quote 12: "[a] star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!" Act 1, Part 8, pg. 51

Quote 13: "didn't crack up again." Act 2, Part 2, pg. 59

Quote 14: "[i]n those days there was personality in it . . . There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it's all cut and dried, and there's no chance for bringing friendship to bear -- or personality . . . They don't know [him] any more." Act 2, Part 2, pg. 61

Quote 15: "[y]ou can't eat the orange and throw the peel away -- a man is not a piece of fruit!" Act 2, Part 2, pg. 61-2

Quote 16: "his life ended after that Ebbets Field game. . . [f]rom the age of seventeen nothing good ever happened to him." Act 2, Part 4, pg. 71

Quote 17: "I've often thought of how strange it was that I knew he'd given up his life." Act 2, Part 4, pg. 72

Quote 18: "Willy, when're you gonna realize that them things don't mean anything. You named him Howard, but you can't sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you don't know that." Act 2, Part 4, pg. 75

Quote 19: "After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive." Act 2, Part 4, pg. 76

Quote 20: "We've been talking in a dream for fifteen years." Act 2, Part 5, pg. 81

Quote 21: "practically" Act 2, Part 5, pg. 83

Quote 22: "You've just seen a prince walk by. A fine, troubled prince. A hard-working, unappreciated prince. A pal, you understand? A good companion. Always for his boys." Act 2, Part 5, pg. 90

Quote 23: "Ben, that funeral will be massive! They'll come from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire! All the old-timers with the strange license plates -- that boy will be thunderstruck, Ben, because he never realized -- I am known! Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey -- I am known, Ben, and he'll see it with his eyes once and for all." Act 2, Part 7, pg. 100

Quote 24: "Spite, spite, is the word of your undoing!" Act 2, Part 7, pg. 103

Quote 25: "[w]e never told the truth for ten minutes in this house." Act 2, Part 7, pg. 104

Quote 26: "Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!" Act 2, Part 7, pg. 105

Quote 27: "there's more of [Willy] in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made." Requiem, pg. 110