“I must court her now,' said the Prince. 'Leave us alone for a minute.' He rode the white expertly down the hill. Buttercup had never seen such a giant beast. Or such a rider. 'I am your Prince and you will marry me,' Humperdinck said. Buttercup whispered, 'I am your servant and I refuse.' 'I am your Prince and you cannot refuse.' 'I am your loyal servant and I just did.' 'Refusal means death.' 'Kill me then.' 'I am your Prince and I’m not that bad — how could you rather be dead than married to me?' 'Because,' Buttercup said, 'marriage involves love, and that is not a pastime at which I excel. I tried once, and it went badly, and I am sworn never to love another.' 'Love?' said Prince Humperdinck. 'Who mentioned love? Not me, I can tell you. Look: there must always be a male heir to the throne of Florin. That’s me. Once my father dies, there won’t be an heir, just a king. That’s me again. When that happens, I’ll marry and have children until there is a son. So you can either marry me and be the richest and most powerful woman in a thousand miles and give turkeys away at Christmas and provide me a son, or you can die in terrible pain in the very near future. Make up your own mind.' 'I’ll never love you.' 'I wouldn’t want it if I had it.' 'Then by all means let us marry.”
William Goldman“You don't want to be rude but you have to be careful - there are a lot of strange people out there.(Goldman attributes this quote to Cliff Robertson.)”
William Goldman, Adventures In The Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood“I must be overtired', Buttercup managed. 'The excitement and all.''Rest then', her mother cautioned. 'Terrible things can happen when you're overtired. I was overtired the night your father proposed.”
William Goldman, The Princess Bride“The hollowness was in his arms and the world was snowing.”
William Goldman, The Princess Bride“The Princess BrideS. Morgenstern'sClassic Tale of True Loveand High AdventureYou had to admire a guy who called his own new book a classic before it was published and anyone had a chance to read it.”
William Goldman, The Princess Bride“Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
William Goldman, William Goldman: Four Screenplays with Essays“Her heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high.”
William Goldman, The Princess Bride“Funny thing- Morgenstern's folk's were named Max and Valerie and his father was a doctor.”
William Goldman, The Princess Bride“Screenplays are structure, and that’s all they are. The quality of writing—which is crucial in almost every other form of literature—is not what makes a screenplay work. Structure isn’t anything else but telling the story, starting as late as possible, starting each scene as late as possible. You don’t want to begin with “Once upon a time,” because the audience gets antsy.”
William Goldman“Give the reader what they want, just not the way they expect it.”
William Goldman