Avoiding humiliation is the core of tragedy and comedy. John Guare More Quotes by John Guare More Quotes From John Guare The Atlantic Ocean was something then. John Guare atlantic-oceanoceannostalgia Show business offers more solid promises than Catholicism. John Guare catholicbusinesspromise 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 new-yorkyearsthinking The imagination says listen to me. I am your darkest voice. I am your 4 a.m. voice. I am the voice that wakes you up and says this is what I'm afraid of. Do not listen to me at your peril.... The imagination is not our escape. On the contrary, the imagination is the place we are all trying to get to. John Guare voiceimaginationtrying We live in a world where amnesia is the most wished-for state. When did history become a bad word? John Guare statespastworld And it is always Easter Sunday at the New York City Ballet. It is always coming back to life. Not even coming back to life - it lives in the constant present. John Guare sundayeasternew-york The life of a dancer is tragically short. What is remarkable about the New York City Ballet is that it makes us forget that. Because it keeps the ballet alive. John Guare citiesnew-yorklife I think that some of these plays are lost in this new horror called development, which is a place for dramaturgs to say "let me tell you what your play means," and the life gets sucked out of a play. John Guare playmeanthinking Ballet is always about the realm of possibilities, the realm of what the human body can do, what the human spirit can do. And it's about listening, it's about listening to remarkable music and how we respond to that. John Guare balletbodylistening All the New York City Ballet does is hit beautiful home runs. John Guare new-yorkrunningbeautiful And what would be great numbers in a Broadway show are now on stage of the New York City Ballet. John Guare citiesnew-yorknumbers 1975 is as much a historical document as 1803. John Guare documentshistorical I believe that the imagination is the passport we create to take us into the real world. I believe the imagination is another phrase for what is most uniquely us. John Guare realimaginationbelieve Does any art have a practical value? People love to talk about how expensive a painting is. That's the only way we can talk about paintings in this century. John Guare doepeopleart However, the moral center of New York City, I believe, is the New York City Ballet. John Guare citiesnew-yorkbelieve New Orleans was a thrilling place of all kinds of races, it was a dangerous place. It was really and truly the only international city on the continent of North America. There were all different races and everything was celebrated, and it was a place of difference, and everybody was different and it was so odd, the minute that America took over, the minute that the Louisiana territory became part of the United States of America, instantly you were either black or white. There was no nuance. and so a free man of color who could own property was suddenly not allowed to. John Guare colorcitiesmen I mean New York City is the financial capital of the world. It's where all the money passes through, the Dow Jones, whatever, that's where all the money goes. John Guare mean-girlscitiesnew-york I think of the New York City Ballet as the Yankees without George Steinbrenner. John Guare yankeesnew-yorkthinking I am the same artist with the same nagging questions I had in my early 20's. What's real and what isn't? How do we tell what's real in our lives? How do we see things as they are? What is my role in life? If the Signature hadn't forced the issue by devoting its season to my plays, I could at least believe I had changed. Really, they're all the same! What is SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION but THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES with money? John Guare artistrealbelieve The power of the past to still dominate our thinking today. John Guare todaypastthinking
