Commercial success and quality are not necessarily allied. Anthony McCarten More Quotes by Anthony McCarten More Quotes From Anthony McCarten I've always loved Broadway, the inspiration for many of my early songs came from shows like' West Side Story,'' My Fair Lady' and' Fiddler on the Roof', so it seems only fitting to bring my songs to The Great White Way. I'm honored and excited to be working with this great team. Anthony McCarten entertainment Be more ambitious. Do your homework. There's no easy way around this. Anthony McCarten your homework easy way As you get older, you become more vain. But as your looks slowly deteriorate, your eyesight worsens, so it all balances out. Anthony McCarten your more you looks You can't write a character more brilliant than yourself. It's just not physically possible. Anthony McCarten possible yourself you character I was born to a very large family, one of 7 kids. I grew up with carnivals and chaos all around me, so I can write anywhere. Anthony McCarten me chaos born family It's impossible to make a living in the arts unless you make a fortune. There's almost no in-between. Writers are either broke or rolling in it. Oddly, you can't tell them apart. Anthony McCarten tell you living impossible Most writers live in self-imposed exile, even when they don't leave their country. They prefer the undiscovered country inside their own heads. Anthony McCarten inside live own country I have three favorite cities: London, Wellington, and Los Angeles. What makes them so good? The friends who live there. Anthony McCarten live good friends three Truth is seldom appreciated and never understood, whereas a flattering lie is always appreciated and instantly understood. Anthony McCarten lie never truth-is truth My routine is to create activities for myself unrelated to writing that allow little time for writing. This means that when I do get the chance to write, it is like a stolen luxury, something clandestine and almost forbidden. Anthony McCarten myself chance writing time Reading is essential to human life. When the last reader dies, humanity will be at an end. Anthony McCarten end reading humanity life No murder or sin or act of barbarism or cruelty has ever been committed by a person fully absorbed in the reading of a book. By this fact alone, we can conclude that readers are nicer people, at least until they put the book down. When we are reading, we are better. Anthony McCarten alone reading book people At 17, I wanted to be a rock star. Anthony McCarten rock star rock-star wanted The New Zealand sense of humor is tough and realistic. Jokes are not surreal; they are about life and death and tough decisions. Anthony McCarten tough humor life death If we did not have the impulse and ability to believe in the impossible, we would not have religion, democracy, or marriage. Anthony McCarten marriage democracy believe religion I am so superstitious that I think even discussing this subject is dangerous and will probably bring me terrible luck. Having been raised a Catholic, superstition becomes almost part of your DNA. The challenge is to slowly rid yourself of these little delusions. Anthony McCarten challenge i-am yourself me Life is not a waste of time. Anthony McCarten waste-of-time waste time life When I grew up, my house contained only two books: the Bible and the 'Edmonds' cookbook. We were a working-class household. Books were a poor second to the television, which was always on, usually with me in front of it. Anthony McCarten me house bible television Before Churchill had done anything else, he was a writer. He believed to the core that words matter. They count. They can change the world. Anthony McCarten change-the-world words change world If you look at the copies of Churchill's speeches that have survived, they are heavily marked up. He was scrupulous about the impact of each word. He preferred short words and the repetition of short words. He knew everything about the techniques of rhetoric. Anthony McCarten short words look you
