Quotes by Dramatist | Beyond Motive 14/73

top of page

Quotes by Dramatist

"With a little bit of luck, you'll never work!"

"With a little bit of luck, you'll never work!"

Alan Jay Lerner, American Dramatist

9

"A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished."

"A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished."

Friedrich Schiller, German Dramatist

9

"Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea."

"Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea."

John Ciardi, English Dramatist

Art, Idea, Girls

9

"My son - and what's a song? A thing begot within a pair of minutes, thereabout, a lump bred up in darkness."

"My son - and what's a song? A thing begot within a pair of minutes, thereabout, a lump bred up in darkness."

Thomas Kyd, English Dramatist

Son, Darkness, Song

9

"Honest labor bears a lovely face."

"Honest labor bears a lovely face."

Thomas Dekker, English Dramatist

9

"Cancer, like any other illness, is a bore."

"Cancer, like any other illness, is a bore."

Alan Bennett, English Dramatist

Cancer, Illness

9

"Peace to the shacks! War on the palaces!"

"Peace to the shacks! War on the palaces!"

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

9

"Self-love is the source of all our other loves."

"Self-love is the source of all our other loves."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

9

"Every single human being should be the fulfilment of a prophecy: for every human being should be the realisation of some ideal, either in the mind of God or in the mind of man."

"Every single human being should be the fulfilment of a prophecy: for every human being should be the realisation of some ideal, either in the mind of God or in the mind of man."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Human, Ideal, Mind, God

9

"Go far - too far you cannot, still the farther. The more experience finds you: and go sparing. One meal a week will serve you, and one suit, through all your travels; for you'll find it certain."

"Go far - too far you cannot, still the farther. The more experience finds you: and go sparing. One meal a week will serve you, and one suit, through all your travels; for you'll find it certain."

John Fletcher, English Dramatist

Experience, Will

9

"I'm homosexual... How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green."

"I'm homosexual... How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green."

Jean Genet, French Dramatist

Eye, Eyes, Questions

9

"Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves."

"Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves."

Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist

Fashion, Silence

9

"To achieve harmony in bad taste is the height of elegance."

"To achieve harmony in bad taste is the height of elegance."

Jean Genet, French Dramatist

Elegance, Harmony, Taste

9

"Nature abhors a virgin - a frozen asset."

"Nature abhors a virgin - a frozen asset."

Clare Boothe Luce, American Dramatist

9

"The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic."

"The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

9

"There are only Epicureans, either crude or refined; Christ was the most refined."

"There are only Epicureans, either crude or refined; Christ was the most refined."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

9

"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action."

"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action."

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

9

"Heaven takes care that no man secures happiness by crime."

"Heaven takes care that no man secures happiness by crime."

Vittorio Alfieri, Italian Dramatist

Happiness, Care, Crime, Heaven

9

"The women who inspired this play deserved to be smacked across the head with a meat ax and that, I flatter myself, is exactly what I smacked them with."

"The women who inspired this play deserved to be smacked across the head with a meat ax and that, I flatter myself, is exactly what I smacked them with."

Clare Boothe Luce, American Dramatist

Woman, Women, Play

9

"Do we not all spend the greater part of our lives under the shadow of an event that has not yet come to pass?"

"Do we not all spend the greater part of our lives under the shadow of an event that has not yet come to pass?"

Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist

9

"A hard beginning maketh a good ending."

"A hard beginning maketh a good ending."

John Heywood, English Dramatist

Beginning, Ending

9

"I am not young enough to know everything."

"I am not young enough to know everything."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Reflective, Youth, Knowledge, Ignorance, Experience

9

"There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation."

"There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation."

John Ciardi, English Dramatist

Moderation, Nothing, Wrong

9

"I am less to you than your ivory Hermes or your silver Faun. You will like them always. How long will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose. I know, now, that when one loses one's good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything. Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself."

"I am less to you than your ivory Hermes or your silver Faun. You will like them always. How long will you like me? Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose. I know, now, that when one loses one's good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything. Your picture has taught me that. Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Youth, Self, Suicide, Beauty

9

"It takes good memory to keep up a lie."

"It takes good memory to keep up a lie."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

9

"In the service of Caesar, everything is legitimate."

"In the service of Caesar, everything is legitimate."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

9

"Raise your eyes and count the small gang of your oppressors who are only strong through the blood they suck from you and through your arms which you lend them unwillingly."

"Raise your eyes and count the small gang of your oppressors who are only strong through the blood they suck from you and through your arms which you lend them unwillingly."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

9

"But I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like moulten lead."

"But I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like moulten lead."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Life, Regret, Truth, Pain, Happiness

9

"Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage."

"Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

9

"Your words smell of corpses."

"Your words smell of corpses."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

9

"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."

"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

9

"I've spent several years in Hollywood, and I still think the movie heroes are in the audience."

"I've spent several years in Hollywood, and I still think the movie heroes are in the audience."

Wilson Mizner, American Dramatist

Heroes, Hollywood, Years

9

"A noble heart cannot suspect in others the pettiness and malice that it has never felt."

"A noble heart cannot suspect in others the pettiness and malice that it has never felt."

Jean Racine, French Dramatist

9

"They say in the grave there is peace, and peace and the grave are one and the same."

"They say in the grave there is peace, and peace and the grave are one and the same."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

9

"The day will happen whether or not you get up."

"The day will happen whether or not you get up."

John Ciardi, English Dramatist

9

"Looking at faces of people, one gets the feeling there's a lot of work to be done."

"Looking at faces of people, one gets the feeling there's a lot of work to be done."

Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Dramatist

Work, People, Faces, Feeling

9

"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression."

"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression."

Dodie Smith, English Dramatist

Deed, Deeds, Depression

9

"Fraily thy name is woman!"

"Fraily thy name is woman!"

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Gender, Regret, Truth, Wisdom, Life

9

"There are different kinds of artists and very often, I'll be very frank with you, I wish I were a different kind."

"There are different kinds of artists and very often, I'll be very frank with you, I wish I were a different kind."

Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Dramatist

Artist, Artists

9

"There's a kind of dynamic quality about theater and that dynamic quality expresses itself in relation to, first of all, the environment in which it's being staged; then the audience, the nature of the audience, the quality of the audience."

"There's a kind of dynamic quality about theater and that dynamic quality expresses itself in relation to, first of all, the environment in which it's being staged; then the audience, the nature of the audience, the quality of the audience."

Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Dramatist

Nature, Quality, Being, Environment

9

"I hate vacations. There's nothing to do."

"I hate vacations. There's nothing to do."

David Mamet, American Dramatist

9

"God help those who do not help themselves."

"God help those who do not help themselves."

Wilson Mizner, American Dramatist

9

"The art of our necessities is strangeThat can make vile things precious."

"The art of our necessities is strangeThat can make vile things precious."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Necessity, Wisdom, Truth, Life, Power

9

"Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

"Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Adversity, Ugly

9

"One must let the play happen to one; one must let the mind loose to respond as it will, to receive impressions, to sense rather than know, to gather rather than immediately understand."

"One must let the play happen to one; one must let the mind loose to respond as it will, to receive impressions, to sense rather than know, to gather rather than immediately understand."

Edward Albee, American Dramatist

Mind, Play, Sense, Will

9

"He that doth the ravens feed. Yea providently caters for the sparrow. Be comfort to my age!"

"He that doth the ravens feed. Yea providently caters for the sparrow. Be comfort to my age!"

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Providence, Care, Life, Truth

9

"I am a man More sinn'd against than sinning."

"I am a man More sinn'd against than sinning."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Sin, Truth, Regret, Wisdom, Life

9

"For I am born to tame you, Kate,And bring you from a wild Kate to a KateComfortable as other household Kates."

"For I am born to tame you, Kate,And bring you from a wild Kate to a KateComfortable as other household Kates."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Transformation, Life, Change, Growth, Control

9

"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them."

"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them."

Dion Boucicault, Irish Dramatist

Men, Time, Killing, Talk

9

"I promise to be an excellent husband, but give me a wife who, like the moon, will not appear every day in my sky."

"I promise to be an excellent husband, but give me a wife who, like the moon, will not appear every day in my sky."

Anton Chekhov, Russian Dramatist

Wife, HusbDay, Moon, Promise

9

bottom of page