Quotes by Dramatist | Beyond Motive 21/74

top of page

Quotes by Dramatist

"Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death's the other."

"Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death's the other."

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

13

"A writer is not a confectioner, a cosmetic dealer, or an entertainer."

"A writer is not a confectioner, a cosmetic dealer, or an entertainer."

Anton Chekhov, Russian Dramatist

13

"Life is generally something that happens elsewhere."

"Life is generally something that happens elsewhere."

Alan Bennett, English Dramatist

13

"One's life has many compartments."

"One's life has many compartments."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

13

"I always thought the real violence in Hollywood isn't what's on the screen. It's what you have to do to raise the money."

"I always thought the real violence in Hollywood isn't what's on the screen. It's what you have to do to raise the money."

David Mamet, American Dramatist

Money, Thought, Hollywood, Violence

13

"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."

"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Farewell, Regret, Truth, Happiness, Inspirational

13

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

13

"Love's tongue is in his eyes."

"Love's tongue is in his eyes."

John Fletcher, English Dramatist

Love, Eyes, Tongue

13

"So the brother in black offers to these United States the source of courage that endures, and laughter."

"So the brother in black offers to these United States the source of courage that endures, and laughter."

Zora Neale Hurston, American Dramatist

Brother, Courage, Laughter, states

13

"Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom. It should be the first duty of those who are happy to let others know of their gladness."

"Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom. It should be the first duty of those who are happy to let others know of their gladness."

Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist

Happiness, Duty, First

13

"My reason, it's true, controls my feelings, but whatever its authority, it doesn't rule them so much as tyrannize them."

"My reason, it's true, controls my feelings, but whatever its authority, it doesn't rule them so much as tyrannize them."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

Feelings, Authority, Reason

13

"Well, there's no one at all, they do be saying, but is deserving of some punishment from the very minute of his birth."

"Well, there's no one at all, they do be saying, but is deserving of some punishment from the very minute of his birth."

Lady Gregory, Irish Dramatist

Punishment, Saying

13

"Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens."

"Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens."

Douglas William Jerrold, English Dramatist

Happiness, Gardens, Strangers

13

"An optimist is a driver who thinks that empty space at the curb won't have a hydrant beside it."

"An optimist is a driver who thinks that empty space at the curb won't have a hydrant beside it."

Jules Renard, French Dramatist

13

"Few love to hear the sins they love to act."

"Few love to hear the sins they love to act."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Sin, Truth, Power, Regret, Wisdom

13

"I don't think anyone is the perfect one to play me."

"I don't think anyone is the perfect one to play me."

Hugh Leonard, Irish Dramatist

13

"To do a great right do a little wrong."

"To do a great right do a little wrong."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

13

"Money is the sinews of love, as of war."

"Money is the sinews of love, as of war."

George Farquhar, Irish Dramatist

Money, War, Love

13

"A man's home may seem to be his castle on the outside; inside is more often his nursery."

"A man's home may seem to be his castle on the outside; inside is more often his nursery."

Clare Boothe Luce, American Dramatist

13

"How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can't make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless.""Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.""I say it's perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances."

"How you can sit there, calmly eating muffins when we are in this horrible trouble, I can't make out. You seem to me to be perfectly heartless.""Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.""I say it's perfectly heartless your eating muffins at all, under the circumstances."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Humorous, Calmness, Trouble, Behavior, Food

13

"Captain is a good travelling name and so I take it."

"Captain is a good travelling name and so I take it."

George Farquhar, Irish Dramatist

13

"A man must dream a long time in order to act with grandeur, and dreaming is nursed in darkness."

"A man must dream a long time in order to act with grandeur, and dreaming is nursed in darkness."

Jean Genet, French Dramatist

Time, Dream, Act, Darkness

13

"Art is science made clear."

"Art is science made clear."

Wilson Mizner, American Dramatist

13

"The burden of this world is too great for one man to bear, and the world's sorrow too heavy for one heart to suffer."

"The burden of this world is too great for one man to bear, and the world's sorrow too heavy for one heart to suffer."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Tragedy, Burden, World, Sorrow, Heart

13

"A truth that disheartens because it is true is of more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods."

"A truth that disheartens because it is true is of more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods."

Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist

13

"You can be young without money but you can't be old without it."

"You can be young without money but you can't be old without it."

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

13

"A true king is neither husband nor father; he considers his throne and nothing else."

"A true king is neither husband nor father; he considers his throne and nothing else."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

Father, Husband, Nothing

13

"It is not in life, but in art that self-fulfillment is to be found."

"It is not in life, but in art that self-fulfillment is to be found."

Wilson Mizner, American Dramatist

Art, Life, Self

13

"Advertising has done more to cause the social unrest of the 20th century than any other single factor."

"Advertising has done more to cause the social unrest of the 20th century than any other single factor."

Clare Boothe Luce, American Dramatist

Advertising, Cause

13

"There's a tradition in British intellectual life of mocking any non-political force that gets involved in politics, especially within the sphere of the arts and the theatre."

"There's a tradition in British intellectual life of mocking any non-political force that gets involved in politics, especially within the sphere of the arts and the theatre."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

Life, Politics, Force, Theatre

13

"Technological man can't believe in anything that can't be measured, taped, or put into a computer."

"Technological man can't believe in anything that can't be measured, taped, or put into a computer."

Clare Boothe Luce, American Dramatist

13

"A short piece of work means as much to me as a long piece of work."

"A short piece of work means as much to me as a long piece of work."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

13

"Journeys end in lovers meeting."

"Journeys end in lovers meeting."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Love, Happiness, Wisdom, Life

13

"As I grow to understand life less and less I grow to love it more and more."

"As I grow to understand life less and less I grow to love it more and more."

Jules Renard, French Dramatist

13

"I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice."

"I am rich beyond the dreams of avarice."

Edward Moore, English Dramatist

13

"A good memory is needed after one has lied."

"A good memory is needed after one has lied."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

13

"We were put to Dickens as children but it never quite took. That unremitting humanity soon had me cheesed off."

"We were put to Dickens as children but it never quite took. That unremitting humanity soon had me cheesed off."

Alan Bennett, English Dramatist

Children, Humanity

13

"Just vengeance does not call for punishment."

"Just vengeance does not call for punishment."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

Punishment, Vengeance

13

"Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living."

"Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

Life, Living, Worth, Writing

13

"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face."

"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Aesthetics, Beauty, Intellect, Harmony, Exaggeration

13

"In the final analysis there is no other solution to man's progress but the day's honest work, the day's honest decision, the day's generous utterances, and the day's good deed."

"In the final analysis there is no other solution to man's progress but the day's honest work, the day's honest decision, the day's generous utterances, and the day's good deed."

Clare Boothe Luce, American Dramatist

Work, Progress, Decision, Day

13

"A cold in the head causes less suffering than an idea."

"A cold in the head causes less suffering than an idea."

Jules Renard, French Dramatist

Idea, Causes, Suffering

13

"Honest men are the soft easy cushions on which knaves repose and fatten."

"Honest men are the soft easy cushions on which knaves repose and fatten."

Thomas Otway, English Dramatist

13

"He's a fool that marries, but he's a greater that does not marry a fool; what is wit in a wife good for, but to make a man a cuckold?"

"He's a fool that marries, but he's a greater that does not marry a fool; what is wit in a wife good for, but to make a man a cuckold?"

William Wycherley, English Dramatist

Wife, Fool, Man, Wit

13

"Morality does not help me. I am a born antinomian. I am one of those who are made for exceptions, not for laws. But while I see that there is nothing wrong in what one does, I see that there is something wrong in what one becomes. It is well to have learned that."

"Morality does not help me. I am a born antinomian. I am one of those who are made for exceptions, not for laws. But while I see that there is nothing wrong in what one does, I see that there is something wrong in what one becomes. It is well to have learned that."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Moral, Morality, Law, Right, Wrong

13

"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

13

"Young men's love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes."

"Young men's love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Attraction, Love, Truth, Happiness, Wisdom

13

"The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it."

"The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it."

Anton Chekhov, Russian Dramatist

Philosophy, Perception, Reality, Observation, Truth

13

"And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, 'You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."

"And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, 'You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Innocence, Paradise, Smile

13

"The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming."

"The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Reflective, Youth, Emotion, Secrets, Behavior

13

bottom of page