Quotes by Dramatist | Beyond Motive 27/76

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Quotes by Dramatist

"Success isn't everything but it makes a man stand straight."

"Success isn't everything but it makes a man stand straight."

Lillian Hellman, American Dramatist

42

"Byron: The luxuries of this place have made me soft.The metal point's gone from my pen, there's nothing left but the feather.Gutman:That may be true.But what can you do about it?Byron:Make a departure.Gutman:From yourself?Byron:From my present self to myself as I used to be!Gutman:That's the furthest departure a man could make!"

"Byron: The luxuries of this place have made me soft.The metal point's gone from my pen, there's nothing left but the feather.Gutman:That may be true.But what can you do about it?Byron:Make a departure.Gutman:From yourself?Byron:From my present self to myself as I used to be!Gutman:That's the furthest departure a man could make!"

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

Self, Identity, Change, Reflection

42

"It is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present."

"It is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present."

Antonin Artaud, French Dramatist

Time, Work, Absence, Opium

42

"I was brought up in the War. I was an adolescent in the Second World War. And I did witness in London a great deal of the Blitz."

"I was brought up in the War. I was an adolescent in the Second World War. And I did witness in London a great deal of the Blitz."

Harold Pinter, English Dramatist

War, London, World, World war

42

"What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains."

"What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains."

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

Heart, Mountains, Road

42

"It would be one of those evenings when lady luck showed the bitchy streak in her nature."

"It would be one of those evenings when lady luck showed the bitchy streak in her nature."

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

Life, Luck, Fate, Observation, Chance

42

"Things start out as hopes and end up as habits."

"Things start out as hopes and end up as habits."

Lillian Hellman, American Dramatist

42

"Nothing goes further toward a man's liberation than the act of surviving his need for character."

"Nothing goes further toward a man's liberation than the act of surviving his need for character."

John Ciardi, English Dramatist

Character, Man, Nothing

42

"Always tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember."

"Always tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember."

David Mamet, American Dramatist

41

"I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy."

"I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Moral, Hypocrisy, Evil, Truth, Deception

41

"The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it. The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development."

"The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it. The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Philosophical, Change, Development, Systems, Failure

41

"We started off trying to set up a small anarchist community, but people wouldn't obey the rules."

"We started off trying to set up a small anarchist community, but people wouldn't obey the rules."

Alan Bennett, English Dramatist

People, Community, Rules, Trying

41

"All dark and comfortless."

"All dark and comfortless."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Darkness, Regret, Truth, Wisdom, Life

41

"There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him."

"There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him."

Antonin Artaud, French Dramatist

Life, Genius, People, Idea

41

"There are two births: the one when light, First strikes the new awakened sense; The other when two souls unite, And we must count our life from thence, When you loved me and I loved you, Then both of us were born anew."

"There are two births: the one when light, First strikes the new awakened sense; The other when two souls unite, And we must count our life from thence, When you loved me and I loved you, Then both of us were born anew."

William Cartwright, English Dramatist

Life, First, Light, Sense

41

"He was a man of most subtle and refined intellect. A man of culture, charm, and distinction. One of the most intellectual men I ever met.""I prefer a gentlemanly fool any day. There is more to be said for stupidity than people imagine. Personally I have a great admiration for stupidity. It is a sort of fellow-feeling, I suppose."

"He was a man of most subtle and refined intellect. A man of culture, charm, and distinction. One of the most intellectual men I ever met.""I prefer a gentlemanly fool any day. There is more to be said for stupidity than people imagine. Personally I have a great admiration for stupidity. It is a sort of fellow-feeling, I suppose."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

Intellect, Culture, Charm, Fool

41

"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

41

"The stars are scattered all over the sky like shimmering tears, there must be great pain in the eye from which they trickled."

"The stars are scattered all over the sky like shimmering tears, there must be great pain in the eye from which they trickled."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

Eye, Pain, Sky, Stars

41

"In this world truth can wait; she is used to it."

"In this world truth can wait; she is used to it."

Douglas William Jerrold, English Dramatist

41

"People may or may not say what they mean... but they always say something designed to get what they want."

"People may or may not say what they mean... but they always say something designed to get what they want."

David Mamet, American Dramatist

People, May, Want

41

"RUMOUR:"Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,The which in every language I pronounce,Stuffing the ears of men with false reports."

"RUMOUR:"Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,The which in every language I pronounce,Stuffing the ears of men with false reports."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Rumors, Truth, Power, Regret, Today

41

"He is not only dull in himself, but the cause of dullness in others."

"He is not only dull in himself, but the cause of dullness in others."

Samuel Foote, English Dramatist

41

"I say myself no depressed words just depressed minds."

"I say myself no depressed words just depressed minds."

Brendan Behan, Irish Dramatist

41

"How now! Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." Lady Macbeth."

"How now! Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." Lady Macbeth."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Guilt, Truth, Power, Regret, Life

41

"Go to your business, pleasure, whilst I go to my pleasure, business."

"Go to your business, pleasure, whilst I go to my pleasure, business."

William Wycherley, English Dramatist

Business, Pleasure

41

"I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life."

"I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life."

Jean Giraudoux, French Dramatist

Life, Death, Order, Play

41

"Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art."

"Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art."

Tom Stoppard, English Dramatist

Art, Imagination, Skill

41

"Full of wisdom are the ordinations of fate."

"Full of wisdom are the ordinations of fate."

Friedrich Schiller, German Dramatist

41

"When Auden said his poetry didn't save one Jew from the gas chamber, he'd said it all."

"When Auden said his poetry didn't save one Jew from the gas chamber, he'd said it all."

Tom Stoppard, English Dramatist

Literature, Poetry, History, Truth, Expression

41

"Let us not burthen our remembrance withA heaviness that's gone."

"Let us not burthen our remembrance withA heaviness that's gone."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Remembrance, Memory, Truth, Regret, Wisdom

41

"Do your duty and leave the rest to heaven."

"Do your duty and leave the rest to heaven."

Pierre Corneille, French Dramatist

Duty, Heaven, Rest

41

"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

41

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

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

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

41

"Besides, we feel always a sort of mental superiority over those whose lives we know better than they suppose."

"Besides, we feel always a sort of mental superiority over those whose lives we know better than they suppose."

Alexandre Dumas, French Dramatist

Psychology, Mental, Superiority, Insight, Judgment

41

"It is not from reason that justice springs, but goodness is born of wisdom."

"It is not from reason that justice springs, but goodness is born of wisdom."

Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Dramatist

Wisdom, Goodness, Justice, Reason

41

"It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating."

"It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating."

Oscar Wilde, Irish Dramatist

41

"A usurper always distrusts the whole world."

"A usurper always distrusts the whole world."

Vittorio Alfieri, Italian Dramatist

World, Italiian

41

"Laws of silence don't work. When something is festering in your memory or your imagination, laws of silence don't work, it's just like shutting a door and locking it on a house on fire in hope of forgetting that the house is burning. But not facing a fire doesn't put it out."

"Laws of silence don't work. When something is festering in your memory or your imagination, laws of silence don't work, it's just like shutting a door and locking it on a house on fire in hope of forgetting that the house is burning. But not facing a fire doesn't put it out."

Tennessee Williams, American Dramatist

Wisdom, Memory, Truth, Reflection, Experience

41

"He hath always but slightly, known himself...King Lear."

"He hath always but slightly, known himself...King Lear."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Self-Knowledge, Wisdom, Truth, Power, Life

41

"The main object of a revolution is the liberation of man... not the interpretation and application of some transcendental ideology."

"The main object of a revolution is the liberation of man... not the interpretation and application of some transcendental ideology."

Jean Genet, French Dramatist

Revolution, Ideology, Man

41

"Weaving spiders, come not here, Hence, you long legged spinners, hence! Beetles black, approach not here, worm nor snail, do no offense."

"Weaving spiders, come not here, Hence, you long legged spinners, hence! Beetles black, approach not here, worm nor snail, do no offense."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Nature, Warning, Wisdom, Life

41

"We love peace, but not peace at any price."

"We love peace, but not peace at any price."

Douglas William Jerrold, English Dramatist

41

"Jesters do often prove prophets."

"Jesters do often prove prophets."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Wisdom, Truth, Power, Life

41

"The breath of an aristocrat is the death rattle of freedom."

"The breath of an aristocrat is the death rattle of freedom."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

41

"I have been a woman for fifty years, and I've never yet been able to discover precisely what it is I am."

"I have been a woman for fifty years, and I've never yet been able to discover precisely what it is I am."

Jean Giraudoux, French Dramatist

41

"Although I don't examine myself in this respect, I would say, off the top of my head, that I've come to acknowledge my Czechness more as I get older."

"Although I don't examine myself in this respect, I would say, off the top of my head, that I've come to acknowledge my Czechness more as I get older."

Tom Stoppard, English Dramatist

Identity, Heritage, Self

41

"What I did not yet know so intensely was the hatred of the white American for the black, a hatred so deep that I wonder if every white man in this country, when he plants a tree, doesn't see Negroes hanging from its branches."

"What I did not yet know so intensely was the hatred of the white American for the black, a hatred so deep that I wonder if every white man in this country, when he plants a tree, doesn't see Negroes hanging from its branches."

Jean Genet, French Dramatist

American, Country, Deep, Hatred

40

"The statue of Freedom has not been cast yet, the furnace is hot, we can all still burn our fingers."

"The statue of Freedom has not been cast yet, the furnace is hot, we can all still burn our fingers."

Georg Buchner, German Dramatist

40

"This age thinks better of a gilded fool Than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school."

"This age thinks better of a gilded fool Than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school."

Thomas Dekker, English Dramatist

Age, Wisdom, Fool, School

40

"A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue."

"A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue."

David Mamet, American Dramatist

40

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