GREAT QUOTES FROM GREAT PLAYWRIGHTS

 

Because Playwrights Are Potently Quote-able

If you are like me, you are a man who needs a shave sitting at his computer wondering how to eke out a living as a playwright in the small town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, during a pandemic. 

Or, another way that you may be like me, is that you like quotes. For me, quotes can be inspiring, funny, strange, or at the very least, diverting. Since many of my heroes are famous playwrights, I like to look quotes from playwrights, so I figured, why not share some of my favorites?  If you're like me, you'll like them. 

I personally wish I could always remember and feel the truth of this great quote from the amazing Suzan Lori-Parks:

"Each moment is perfect and heaven-sent, in that each moment holds the seed for growth."  

Nice, right?

Tony Kushner, the genius behind Angels in America, among several others once said, "As a playwright, you are a torturer of actors and of the audience as well. You inflict things on people."

Noel Coward believed "Work is much more fun than fun," while Neil Simon reminded us that "If no one ever took risks, Michaelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor."

George Bernard Shaw gave us this advice:  "Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world," as Lynn Nottage encouraged us to "Replace judgement with curiosity." 

"Things are beautiful if you love them," said Jean Anouilh, and I can't argue with that. I also can't argue with Arthur Miller when he said, "Betrayal is the only truth that sticks."

And absolutely no one should be able to argue with Edward Bond: "The human mind is a dramatic structure in itself and our society is absolutely saturated with drama."

Theresa Rebeck said, "I write a lot because, if I don't, I start to panic, and I calm down when I write," feelings I often share. 

Samuel Beckett is often quoted as a proponent of failure, which is its own kind of encouragement: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Edward Albee must have been a fan of this quote (he was definitely a fan of Beckett), as he said, "If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly."

Another favorite of mine from the Theatre of the Absurd, Eugène Ionesco, said, "Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together."  And he wasn't just talking about rhinoceroses, either. 

Lanford Wilson warned that "Nobody's safe around a writer," and he was probably right. 

Perhaps the best way to end this batch of quotes are with this short quote from Harold Pinter (another favorite of mine). I have often found it inspiring on bad writing days, and I hope you all will, too:

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