I'm afraid of only two things: being lazy and being cowardly. David Mamet More Quotes by David Mamet More Quotes From David Mamet The greater the intellect, the more ease in its misdirection. David Mamet misdirection intellect ease You get rich through luck. You get rich through crime. You get rich through fulfilling the needs of another. You can be as greedy as you like. If you can’t do one of those three things, you ain’t going to get any money. David Mamet three luck needs Here's what happens in a play. You get involved in a situation where something is unbalanced. If nothing's unbalanced, there's no reason to have a play. If Hamlet comes home from school, and his dad's not dead and asks him if he's had a good time, it's boring. But if something's unbalanced, it must be returned to order. David Mamet dad home school All fears are one fear. Just the fear of death. And we accept it, then we are at peace. David Mamet fear-of-death accepting The basis of drama is... the struggle of the hero towards a specific goal at the end of which he realises that what kept him from it was, in the lesser drama, civilisation and, in the great drama, the discovery of something that he did not set out to discover but which can be seen retrospectively as inevitable. David Mamet struggle hero drama Anyone ever lost in the wild knows that nature wants you dead. David Mamet deep-thought humor want I love all insider memoirs. It doesn't matter whether it's truck-drivers or doctors. I think everybody likes to go backstage, find out what people think and what they talk about and what specialised job they have. David Mamet doctors jobs thinking Train yourself for a profession that does not exist. David Mamet profession train doe If the scene bores you when you read it, rest assured it WILL bore the actors, and will then bore the audience, and we're all going to be back in the breadline. David Mamet bores-you actors scene Liberalism is a religion. Its tenets cannot be proved, its capacity for waste and destruction demonstrated. But it affords a feeling of spiritual rectitude at little or no cost. David Mamet cost spiritual feelings There's nothing in the world more silent than the telephone the morning after everybody pans your play. It won't ring from room service; your mother won't be calling you. If the phone has not rung by 8 in the morning, you're dead. David Mamet phones mother morning The so-called assault weapons ban is a hoax. It is a political appeal to the ignorant. The guns it supposedly banned have been illegal for 78 years. Did the ban make them 'more' illegal? The ban addresses only the appearance of weapons, not their operation. David Mamet assault-weapons gun years Get into the scene late; get out of the scene early. David Mamet late scene writing At the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, Sanford Meisner said, 'When you go into the professional world, at a stock theatre somewhere, backstage, you will meet an older actor, someone who has been around awhile. He will tell you tales and anecdotes, about life in the theatre. He will speak to you about your performance and the performances of others, and he will generalize to you, based on his experience and his intuitions, about the laws of the stage. Ignore this man!' David Mamet law men school When we fear things I think that we wish for them ... every fear hides a wish David Mamet fear wish thinking Do not internalize the industrial model. You are not one of the myriad interchangeable pieces, but a unique human being, and if you've got something to say, say it, and think well of yourself while you're learning to say it better. David Mamet pieces unique thinking What I value most in my friends is loyalty. David Mamet values my-friends loyalty Acting is not a genteel profession. Actors used to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through the heart. Those people's performances so troubled the onlookers that they feared their ghosts. An awesome compliment. Those players moved the audience not such that they were admitted to a school, or received a complimentary review, but such that the audience feared for their soul. Now that seems to me something to aim for. David Mamet player heart school President Obama seems to understand the Constitution as a 'set of suggestions.' David Mamet suggestions constitution president We Americans have always considered Hollywood, at best, a sinkhole of depraved venality. And, of course, it is. It is not a protective monastery of aesthetic truth. It is a place where everything is incredibly expensive. David Mamet monasteries sinkholes hollywood
