In a world of lies and liars, an honest work of art is always an act of social responsibility. Robert McKee More Quotes by Robert McKee More Quotes From Robert McKee Story isn't a flight from reality but a vehicle that carries us on our search for reality. Robert McKee flightstoriesreality Of all the reasons for wanting to write, the only one that nurtures us through time is love of the work itself. Robert McKee rough-timesreasonwriting Classical design is a mirror of the human mind. It's how we see the world. Robert McKee designmirrorsmind If you can't play all the instruments in the orchestra of story, no matter what music may be in your imagination, you're condemned to hum the same old tune. Robert McKee imaginationplaywriting A culture cannot evolve without honest, powerful storytelling. When a society repeatedly experiences glossy, hollowed-out, pseudo-stories, it degenerates. We need true satires and tragedies, dramas and comedies that shine a clean light into the dingy corners of the human psyche and society. Robert McKee powerfullightdrama Angry contradiction of the patriarch is not creativity; it's delinquency calling for attention. Difference for the sake of difference is as empty an achievement as slavishly following the commercial imperative. Robert McKee achievementcreativitydifferences Leaders use story to author the future. Robert McKee leaderusestories To get the truth, you want to get your own heart to pound while you write. Robert McKee creativityheartwriting The material of literary talent is words; the material of story talent is life itself. Robert McKee materialstalentstories The principle of Creative Limitations calls for freedom within a circle of obstacles and restricted boundaries. Talent is like a muscle: without something to push against, it atrophies. So we deliberately put obstacles in our path - barriers that will inspire us. We disciple ourselves as to what to do, while we're boundless as to how to do it. Robert McKee creativitycirclesinspiration Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form. Robert McKee rebelliousbreakartist What happens is fact, not truth. Truth is what we think about what happens. Robert McKee storiesinspirationalthinking In life two negatives don't make a positive. Double negatives turn positive only in math and formal logic. In life things just get worse and worse and worse. Robert McKee logicmathtwo Boredom is the inner conflict we suffer when we lose desire, when we lack a lacking. Robert McKee boredomsufferingdesire Stories are how we remember; we tend to forget lists and bullet points. Robert McKee bulletslistsstories Deus ex machina not only erases all meaning and emotion, it's an insult to the audience. Each of us knows we must choose and act, for better or worse, to determine the meaning of our lives...Deus ex machina is an insult because it is a lie. Robert McKee meaning-of-lifeemotionlying Secure writers don't sell first drafts. They patiently rewrite until the script is as director-ready, as actor-ready as possible. Unfinished work invites tampering, while polished, mature work seals its integrity. Robert McKee unfinished-worktheatreintegrity Influence is just persuasion in slow motion. Robert McKee slow-motionpersuasioninfluence Night after night, through years of performing and directing, I've stood in awe of the audience, of its capacity for response. As if by magic, masks fall away, faces become vulnerable, receptive. Filmgoers do not defend their emotions, rather they open to the storyteller in ways even their lovers never know, welcoming laughter, tears, terror, rage, compassion, passion, love, hate--the ritual often exhausts them. Robert McKee laughterhatefall Whereas life separates meaning from emotion, art unites them. Story is an instrument by which you create such epiphanies at will, the phenomenon known as aesthetic emotion...Life on its own, without art to shape it, leaves you in confusion and chaos, but aesthetic emotion harmonizes what you know with what you feel to give you a heightened awareness and a sureness of your place in reality. Robert McKee givingrealityart
