Waiting for Godot Life, Consciousness, and Existence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line) Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.

Quote #4

ESTRAGON
Fancy that. (He raises what remains of the carrot by the stub of leaf, twirls it before his eyes.) Funny, the more you eat the worse it gets.
VLADIMIR
With me it's just the opposite. (1.278-9)

This is one of the key moments of opposites between Vladimir and Estragon. One finds repetition (in most of existence, not just with regards to the carrot) dulling, and the other finds it exciting.

Quote #5

VLADIMIR
I get used to the muck as I go along.
[…]
VLADIMIR
Nothing you can do about it.
ESTRAGON
No use struggling.
VLADIMIR
One is what one is.
ESTRAGON
No use wriggling.
VLADIMIR
The essential doesn't change.
ESTRAGON
Nothing to be done. (1.281-290)

This is the second time we hear Estragon’s line "Nothing to be done," the phrase that opened the play. Here, both men have accepted the stagnancy of their situation and abandoned any hope of change or betterment. This becomes not only an excuse for passivity, but a prison of inaction, as neither man can bring himself to break the cycle of waiting for Godot.

Quote #6

POZZO
(having lit his pipe) The second is never so sweet . . . (he takes the pipe out of his mouth, contemplates it) . . . as the first I mean. (He puts the pipe back in his mouth.) But it's sweet just the same. (1.400)

This is Pozzo putting in his two cents to add to Gogo and Didi’s earlier conversation about the carrot. His opinion is something of a middle ground; habit deadens the senses, but there is still something to be enjoyed in the world.