I became a virtuoso of deceit. It wasn't pleasure I was after, it was knowledge. I consulted the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to find out what to think and novelists to see what I could get away with. Christopher Hampton More Quotes by Christopher Hampton More Quotes From Christopher Hampton A great number of the disappointments and mishaps of the troubled world are the direct result of literature and the allied arts. It is our belief that no human being who devotes his life and energy to the manufacture of fantasies can be anything but fundamentally inadequate. Christopher Hampton disappointment numbers art My problem is I'm a man of no convictions - at least, I think I am. Christopher Hampton belief men thinking Masturbation is the thinking man's television. Christopher Hampton men television thinking Since my adaptation of Ian McEwan's 'Atonement,' I get sent a lot of novels that people think will work as movies. So every now and then I make a point of sitting down and reading a couple of them. Christopher Hampton couple reading thinking Often I think the novels I read won't make very good movies - I better not say which I'm looking at for potential films! - but it's nice to have an excuse to just sit and read for a whole day. Christopher Hampton good-movie nice thinking There was a moment in the early '80s when I wanted to work on films and wanted to live in L.A. Christopher Hampton film moments wanted There is a sort of theory that you should adapt bad books because they always make more successful films. Christopher Hampton film successful book It's great to get out of the study and work with real living and breathing people. Christopher Hampton breathing real people If you take a really good book, then the potential is for a really good film. But you've got to get it right. Christopher Hampton film ifs book I'm ashamed to say the first play I saw at the Royal Court was mine. Christopher Hampton saws play firsts I love films. If I'd known how to get into or do it from the word go, I would have done that. Christopher Hampton known film done I find I have to give myself a day when I just shut myself off and do nothing but read. Christopher Hampton giving If I had to give a definition of capitalism I would say: the process whereby American girls turn into American women. Christopher Hampton definitions girl giving To seduce a woman famous for strict morals, religious fervor and the happiness of her marriage: what could possibly be more prestigious? Christopher Hampton seduction religious happiness I have always thought of sophistication as rather a feeble substitute for decadence. Christopher Hampton decadence substitutes class I like L.A., but I think whats changed is that the kinds of films I do, the mid-range dramatic film, has become an endangered species. Christopher Hampton film kind thinking I think there's something degrading about having a husband for a rival. It's humiliating if you fail and commonplace if you succeed. Christopher Hampton rivals husband thinking It's possible to disagree with someone about the ethics of non-violence without wanting to kick his face in. Christopher Hampton ethics violence faces You see, I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those who live by what they believe, falsely, to be the truth. Christopher Hampton two believe lying You know very well that unless you're a scientist, it's much more important for a theory to be shapely, than for it to be true. Christopher Hampton scientist important theory
