The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.

— William Golding

There's a kinship among men who have sat by a dying fire and measured the worth of their life by it.

— William Golding

The thing is--fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.

— William Golding

The three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life

— William Golding

The way towards simplicity is through outrage.

— William Golding

This island has no secrets, not from me. It loves me, and I love it, and when I paint my face I'm a part of the island. The worthiness of my face hidden behind the clay and charcoal. I leave behind England, it's not important anymore, our island is all that matters. The rhythm of the hunt, the sun, beats deep in my blood. The little'us play, eat, and sleep, there good for nothing and just take up precious space on my island. I couldn't have known a ship would pass at the exact moment my hunters left the fire. We needed the meat. Everything was perfect, the pigs on the mountain, the hunters and our spears, we had to go then. The hunt was perfect, the bouts and bouts of blood, the pigs' death screams. But that stupid boat went by, and destroyed my trophy. Then Simon, stupid little Simon, gives the fat belligerent Fatty a piece of meat. He doesn't deserve it, the fat, ass-mar infected, fatty. The know-it-all that says he could do better, he wouldn't, he'd do the exact same thing in my shoes. Damn him, damn them all! They should have just taken the meat. Then Ralph stands there and tells me I'm too malevolent. I even apologized. He doesn't deserve to be chief, he's weak. He wouldn't do it, he wouldn't kill. There's power behind the spear, impalpable to people like Ralph. We dominate those pigs. Now that we have found the way to kill the pigs, we don't even need to be rescued. It doesn't matter that there was no fire to signal the ship, because we needed the men for the hunt, and I don't regret it anymore because now we have meat.

— William Golding

We have a disharmony in our natures. We cannot live together without injuring each other.

— William Golding

We're all mad, the whole damned race. We're wrapped in illusions, delusions, confusions about the penetrability of partitions, we're all mad and in solitary confinement.

— William Golding

We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages.

— William Golding

We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything.

— William Golding