I have been vain since birth. Wallace Shawn More Quotes by Wallace Shawn More Quotes From Wallace Shawn For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence. Wallace Shawn play writing thinking We are not what we seem. We are more than what we seem. The actor knows that. And because the actor knows that hidden inside himself there's a wizard and a king, he also knows that when he's playing himself in his daily life, he's playing a part, he's performing, just as he's performing when he plays a part on stage. Wallace Shawn actors kings play I'm not proud to be me, I'm not excited to be me, but I find that I am me, and like most other individuals, I send out little signals; I tell everyone else how everything looks from where I am. Wallace Shawn proud littles looks It's obviously a characteristic of human beings that we like to feel superior to others, but our problem is we are not superior Wallace Shawn characteristics problem feels Who says one instance of writing has anything in common with another instance? Wallace Shawn instance common writing Even with my wife, I find sharing soup is hard. Wallace Shawn my-wife wife soup Sleep: a poor substitute for caffeine! Wallace Shawn bedtime insomnia sleep Patriotism is considered to be an emotion a person ought to feel. But why? Why is it nobler to love your own country than to love someone else's? Wallace Shawn emotion love-you country I grew up in a very polite family, and I suppose my parents were both very polite, and from the time I was a young boy, I suspected that there were passions seething underneath and not being mentioned, and that was something that came to preoccupy me. Somehow I had some drive to write down what people might really be thinking. Wallace Shawn passion writing boys Acting is trying to be absolutely truthful; to get audiences to believe that you are a dean, when, actually, not only are you not the dean, but if you walked into the building they'd probably throw you out. That's very hard. Wallace Shawn acting trying believe I don't have an idea for a play until after I've finished writing it. I write first, and come up with what it's about later. My technique could be compared to having a large canvas and coming in every day and putting a dot on it somewhere, and after several years - literally - I begin to say, That reminds me of an elephant, so I think I'll make it one. Wallace Shawn writing years thinking My style as a human being is to indulge people who need to escape, yet I insist on confronting them as a playwright. It's quite embarrassing, it's quite unpleasant, it's quite awkward. Wallace Shawn awkward style people I was making my living from a joke about my appearance that I didn't understand, and in a way still don't, because when I look in a mirror it doesn't seem funny to me. Wallace Shawn mirrors looks way As writers, we can't predict who might come along who might find our offerings valuable. Wallace Shawn valuable offering might We're in an emergency situation. The United States has become an absolutely terrifying country, and I would hope that I could participate in some way in stopping the horror and the brutality. Wallace Shawn scary country way Acting is an escape from the boring person that I am in real life. Wallace Shawn boring acting real I wrote my first play at the age of 10, 55 years ago, and I've always found it a fantastic relief to imagine I know what things would be like from the point of view of other individuals and to send out signals from where I actually am not. Playwrights never need to write from the place where they are. Wallace Shawn views writing years 'The Princess Bride' is by far the most popular film I've ever done. I don't think I'll ever top it. Wallace Shawn princess done thinking In real life, every person is the leading man or woman. We don't think of ourselves as supporting or character actors. Wallace Shawn real character men In my early 20s, I studied history and politics, and I really thought that perhaps I would devote my life to that. Wallace Shawn early-20s
