I don't keep a diary and I throw away nearly all the paper I might have kept. I don't keep an archive. There's something worrying about my make-up that I try to leave no trace of myself apart from my plays. Tom Stoppard More Quotes by Tom Stoppard More Quotes From Tom Stoppard Biography is the mesh through which real life escapes. Tom Stoppard biographies real-life real Because children grow up, we think a child's purpose is to grow up. But a child's purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn't disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into the each moment. We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Tom Stoppard growing-up children thinking Act first! The ideas will follow, and if not - well, it's progress Tom Stoppard progress ideas firsts No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable. Tom Stoppard imperfect-things free-press matter Every age thinks it's the modern age, but this one really is. Electricity is going to change everything. Everything! Tom Stoppard modern age thinking Theater is a recreation. It can be much more, but unless it's recreation, I don't see the point of it. Tom Stoppard recreation theater Wars are fought for oil wells and coaling stations; for control of the Dardanelles or the Suez Canal; for colonial pickings to buy cheap in and conquered markets to sell dear in. War is capitalism with the gloves off. Tom Stoppard gloves oil war Plays...Maidens aspiring to Godheads and vice versa! Tom Stoppard maidens vices play One bulls-eye and you're rich and famous. The rich get more famous and the famous get rich. You're the talk of the town....The sense of so much depending on success is very hard to ignore, perhaps impossible. It leads to disproportionate anxiety and disproportionate relief or disappointment. Tom Stoppard anxiety eye disappointment The tragedy of journalism is that these are people doing their best work. Tom Stoppard journalism tragedy people The causes we know everything about depend on causes we know very little about, which depend on causes we know absolutely nothing about. Tom Stoppard absolutely-nothing causes littles To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories: (1) things that need to be fixed, and (2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them. Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art. Tom Stoppard skills play art You can persuade a man to believe almost anything provided he is clever enough, but it is much more difficult to persuade someone less clever. Tom Stoppard clever men believe If you were handed power on a plate you'd be left fighting over a plate. Tom Stoppard plates left fighting We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Tom Stoppard mortality intuition born No problem is insoluble, given a big enough plastic bag. Tom Stoppard bags problem enough For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him again for what I had just received, and then we lost touch and I suddenly thought, where is he now Tom Stoppard lord life years It seems pointless to be quoted if one isn't going to be quotable ... it's better to be quotable than honest. Tom Stoppard honest ifs seems Hell is very likely to be modernization infinitely extended. Tom Stoppard modernization hell Maybe Napoleon was wrong when he said we were a nation of shopkeepers... Today England looked like a nation of goalkeepers. Tom Stoppard goalkeepers england today
