Quotes by Playwright | Beyond Motive 13/29

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Quotes by Playwright

"That was always my inclination, to start on a new play before the other one gets done, because at least you'll have something to go back to if that play gets trashed."

"That was always my inclination, to start on a new play before the other one gets done, because at least you'll have something to go back to if that play gets trashed."

Beth Henley, American Playwright

13

"There's no reason to bring religion into it. I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible."

"There's no reason to bring religion into it. I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible."

Sean O'Casey, Irish Playwright

Religion, Reason

13

"It is right and natural that generous minds while in the twenties should think the books which try to reform the world's wrong the greatest of all."

"It is right and natural that generous minds while in the twenties should think the books which try to reform the world's wrong the greatest of all."

Laurence Housman, English Playwright

Books, Reform, Right, World

13

"Since I also act, sometimes I get over my resentment and commit to the pitch as an acting job."

"Since I also act, sometimes I get over my resentment and commit to the pitch as an acting job."

Christopher Durang, American Playwright

Act, Acting, Job, Resentment

13

"Death comes for us all. Even for kings he comes."

"Death comes for us all. Even for kings he comes."

Robert Bolt, British Playwright

13

"Life is the most versatile thing under the sun; and in the pursuit of life and character the author who works in a groove works in blinkers."

"Life is the most versatile thing under the sun; and in the pursuit of life and character the author who works in a groove works in blinkers."

Laurence Housman, English Playwright

Life, Character, Pursuit, Sun

13

"Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable."

"Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable."

Wendy Wasserstein, American Playwright

Expectation, Expectations, Remarkable

13

"If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless."

"If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless."

Moliere, French Playwright

Heart, Integrity

13

"Murderers, in general, are people who are consistent, people who are obsessed with one idea and nothing else."

"Murderers, in general, are people who are consistent, people who are obsessed with one idea and nothing else."

Ugo Betti, Italian Playwright

People, Idea, Nothing

13

"I have come up with very creative ideas that really didn't work with the song I was currently composing."

"I have come up with very creative ideas that really didn't work with the song I was currently composing."

Ken Hill, British Playwright

Work, Ideas, Song

13

"An inability to handle language is not the same thing as stupidity."

"An inability to handle language is not the same thing as stupidity."

David Hare, English Playwright

Language, Stupidity

13

"Psychoanalysts and elephants, they never forget."

"Psychoanalysts and elephants, they never forget."

Arthur Laurents, American Playwright

13

"The working class will not halt until socialism has been realized."

"The working class will not halt until socialism has been realized."

Ernst Toller, German Playwright

Class, Socialism, Will

13

"Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?"

"Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?"

James M. Barrie, British Playwright

13

"Art is the close scrutiny of reality and therefore I put on the stage only those things that I know happen in our society."

"Art is the close scrutiny of reality and therefore I put on the stage only those things that I know happen in our society."

Edward Bond, English Playwright

Art, Society, Reality

13

"When I write, I am not giving a lecture, I am speculating on behavior. Sometimes this is dangerous, but it should be. As I say often, theatre is a dark place and we should keep the light out of it."

"When I write, I am not giving a lecture, I am speculating on behavior. Sometimes this is dangerous, but it should be. As I say often, theatre is a dark place and we should keep the light out of it."

Howard Barker, British Playwright

Behavior, Giving, Light, Theatre

13

"It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."

"It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."

Noel Coward, English Playwright

People, Honesty, Deceit

13

"Integrity of life is fame's best friend, which nobly, beyond death, shall crown in the end."

"Integrity of life is fame's best friend, which nobly, beyond death, shall crown in the end."

John Webster, English Playwright

Life, Death, Friend, Fame

13

"Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven."

"Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven."

Francis Beaumont, English Playwright

Faith, Earth, Heaven, May

13

"To marry a fool is to be no fool."

"To marry a fool is to be no fool."

Moliere, French Playwright

13

"A kiss is a rosy dot over the 'i' of loving."

"A kiss is a rosy dot over the 'i' of loving."

Cyrano de Bergerac, French Playwright

13

"Men often are valued high, when they are most wretched."

"Men often are valued high, when they are most wretched."

John Webster, English Playwright

13

"The man who bears my name, and who claims to be me, was born on July 15, 1865, the sixth in a family of seven. He was an ugly child, and remained ugly till his eighteenth year, when his looks gradually improved."

"The man who bears my name, and who claims to be me, was born on July 15, 1865, the sixth in a family of seven. He was an ugly child, and remained ugly till his eighteenth year, when his looks gradually improved."

Laurence Housman, English Playwright

Family, July, Man, Name

13

"Why do we have this desire to tease the innocent? Is it envy?"

"Why do we have this desire to tease the innocent? Is it envy?"

Graham Greene, British Playwright

Morality, Envy, Innocence, Behavior

13

"It is easy to answer the ultimate questions - it saves you bothering with the immediate ones."

"It is easy to answer the ultimate questions - it saves you bothering with the immediate ones."

John Osborne, English Playwright

Question, Questions

13

"Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created."

"Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created."

Peter Shaffer, English Playwright

13

"I shall not die young, for I am already near seventy: I may die old."

"I shall not die young, for I am already near seventy: I may die old."

Laurence Housman, English Playwright

13

"Let's drink to the spirit of gallantry and courage that made a strange Heaven out of unbelievable Hell, and let's drink to the hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and greatness and peace again."

"Let's drink to the spirit of gallantry and courage that made a strange Heaven out of unbelievable Hell, and let's drink to the hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and greatness and peace again."

Noel Coward, English Playwright

Love, Peace, Courage, Greatness

13

"All the dialogue on tape, and we'd play the tape in performance. Then I thought it'd be interesting if the actor's repeated what they heard on the tape, but at a slower speed, so we'd get a web of language."

"All the dialogue on tape, and we'd play the tape in performance. Then I thought it'd be interesting if the actor's repeated what they heard on the tape, but at a slower speed, so we'd get a web of language."

Richard Foreman, American Playwright

Thought, Performance, Actor, Language

13

"Humanity's become a product and when humanity is a product, you get Auschwitz and you get Chair."

"Humanity's become a product and when humanity is a product, you get Auschwitz and you get Chair."

Edward Bond, English Playwright

13

"I just loved being divorced from my own wretchedness."

"I just loved being divorced from my own wretchedness."

Beth Henley, American Playwright

13

"It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a firmer outline and then cease to change."

"It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a firmer outline and then cease to change."

Colley Cibber, English Playwright

Change, Death, Time, Thoughts

13

"Early to bed and early to rise is a bad rule for anyone who wishes to become acquainted with our most prominent and influential people."

"Early to bed and early to rise is a bad rule for anyone who wishes to become acquainted with our most prominent and influential people."

George Ade, American Playwright

People, Bed, Wishes

13

"You never quite know what's going to strike your imagination, or something that won't going to leave you alone, not going to leave alone, and this was one for me."

"You never quite know what's going to strike your imagination, or something that won't going to leave you alone, not going to leave alone, and this was one for me."

Peter Shaffer, English Playwright

13

"A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool."

"A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool."

Moliere, French Playwright

13

"Human communication, it sometimes seems to me, involves an exaggerated amount of time. How briefly and to the point people always seem to speak on the stage or on the screen, while in real life we stumble from phrase to phrase with endless repetition."

"Human communication, it sometimes seems to me, involves an exaggerated amount of time. How briefly and to the point people always seem to speak on the stage or on the screen, while in real life we stumble from phrase to phrase with endless repetition."

Graham Greene, British Playwright

Communication, Time, Repetition, Truth

13

"Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul. And when he has made it, it is not given to all to know it. To recognize it you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that he sings to you, and to hear it again in your own heart you want knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination."

"Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world in the torment of his soul. And when he has made it, it is not given to all to know it. To recognize it you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that he sings to you, and to hear it again in your own heart you want knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Art, Beauty, Chaos, Imagination

13

"He disapproved, he didn't believe in girls drinking, he was full of the conventions of a generation older than himself. Of course one drank oneself, one fornicated, but one didn't lie with a friend's sister, and 'decent' girls were never squiffy."

"He disapproved, he didn't believe in girls drinking, he was full of the conventions of a generation older than himself. Of course one drank oneself, one fornicated, but one didn't lie with a friend's sister, and 'decent' girls were never squiffy."

Graham Greene, British Playwright

Society, Belief, Behavior, Social, Gender

13

"I tried to start a theatre in LA and failed miserably, but I was probably not meant to raise money."

"I tried to start a theatre in LA and failed miserably, but I was probably not meant to raise money."

Beth Henley, American Playwright

13

"I would love to spend all my time writing to you; I'd love to share with you all that goes through my mind, all that weighs on my heart, all that gives air to my soul; phantoms of art, dreams that would be so beautiful if they could come true."

"I would love to spend all my time writing to you; I'd love to share with you all that goes through my mind, all that weighs on my heart, all that gives air to my soul; phantoms of art, dreams that would be so beautiful if they could come true."

Luigi Pirandello, Italian Playwright

Dream, Dreams, Love, Time, Art

13

"I have the feeling it will influence my future writing to the extent that without any material worries I could develop a greater ease, even lightheartedness, in my writing."

"I have the feeling it will influence my future writing to the extent that without any material worries I could develop a greater ease, even lightheartedness, in my writing."

Elfriede Jelinek, American Playwright

Feelings, Feeling, Future, Influence, Will

13

"At the end of what is called the 'sexual life' the only love which has lasted is the love which has everything every disappointment every failure and every betrayal which has accepted even the sad fact that in the end there is no desire so deep as the simple desire for companionship."

"At the end of what is called the 'sexual life' the only love which has lasted is the love which has everything every disappointment every failure and every betrayal which has accepted even the sad fact that in the end there is no desire so deep as the simple desire for companionship."

Graham Greene, British Playwright

Love, Companionship, Disappointment, Failure

13

"The one overall structure in my plays is language."

"The one overall structure in my plays is language."

Edward Bond, English Playwright

13

"Hatred seems to work on the same glands as love: it even produces the same actions. If we had not been taught how to interpret the story of the Passion, would we have been able to say from their actions alone whether it was the jealous Judas or the cowardly Peter who loved Christ?"

"Hatred seems to work on the same glands as love: it even produces the same actions. If we had not been taught how to interpret the story of the Passion, would we have been able to say from their actions alone whether it was the jealous Judas or the cowardly Peter who loved Christ?"

Graham Greene, British Playwright

Emotion, Hatred, Love, Action

13

"The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill."

"The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Nature, Soul, Artist, Water

13

"I think that every year that the New York City Ballet is alive is worthy of celebration. Because otherwise the terrible thing is just that we take it for granted."

"I think that every year that the New York City Ballet is alive is worthy of celebration. Because otherwise the terrible thing is just that we take it for granted."

John Guare, American Playwright

13

"Which implies that the real issue in art is the audience's response. Now I claim that when I make things, I don't care about the audience's response, I'm making them for myself. But I'm making them for myself as audience, because I want to wake myself up."

"Which implies that the real issue in art is the audience's response. Now I claim that when I make things, I don't care about the audience's response, I'm making them for myself. But I'm making them for myself as audience, because I want to wake myself up."

Richard Foreman, American Playwright

Art, Care, Now, Want

13

"It gives him spiritual freedom. To him life is a tragedy and by his gift of creation he enjoys the catharsis a purging of pity and terror, Which Aristotle tells is the object of art. Everything is transformed by his power into material and by writing it he can overcome it. Everything is grist to his mill. ... The artist is the only free man."

"It gives him spiritual freedom. To him life is a tragedy and by his gift of creation he enjoys the catharsis a purging of pity and terror, Which Aristotle tells is the object of art. Everything is transformed by his power into material and by writing it he can overcome it. Everything is grist to his mill. ... The artist is the only free man."

W. Somerset Maugham, British Playwright

Creation, Art, Freedom, Tragedy

13

"I'm there to make a kind of theatrical music that is desperately missing in my life. And if other people don't like it, I'm very unhappy, but I can't do anything about that."

"I'm there to make a kind of theatrical music that is desperately missing in my life. And if other people don't like it, I'm very unhappy, but I can't do anything about that."

Richard Foreman, American Playwright

Music, Life, People

13

"Here we are, we're alone in the universe, there's no God, it just seems that it all began by something as simple as sunlight striking on a piece of rock. And here we are. We've only got ourselves. Somehow, we've just got to make a go of it. We've only ourselves."

"Here we are, we're alone in the universe, there's no God, it just seems that it all began by something as simple as sunlight striking on a piece of rock. And here we are. We've only got ourselves. Somehow, we've just got to make a go of it. We've only ourselves."

John Osborne, English Playwright

13

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