So somehow, things that seem extraneous to the play in reality are not. The scene lasts 37 minutes, and you only need 12 minutes of that for the plot. But if you pull the rest of it out, it's not my play. August Wilson More Quotes by August Wilson More Quotes From August Wilson I don't go by what the law say. The law's liable to say anything. I go by if it's right or not. It don't matter what the law say. I take and look at it for myself. August Wilson matter law say-anything My influences have been what I call my four Bs - the primary one being the blues, then Borges, Baraka, and Bearden. August Wilson borges four influence I been with strangers all day and they treated me like family. I come in here to family and you treat me like a stranger. August Wilson funny-family like-family stranger Style ain't nothing but keeping the same idea from beginning to end. Everybody got it. August Wilson style ends ideas I dont write particularly to effect social change. I believe writing can do that, but thats not why I write. August Wilson social writing believe There's no idea in the world that is not contained by black life. I could write forever about the black experience in America. August Wilson writing america ideas I ain't never found no place for me to fit. Seem like all I do is start over. It ain't nothing to find no starting place in the world. You just start from where you find yourself. August Wilson finding-yourself starting-over world Jazz in itself is not struggling. That is, the music itself is not struggling... It's the attitude that's in trouble. My plays insist that we should not forget or toss away our history. August Wilson struggle play attitude We were land-based agrarian people from Africa. We were uprooted from Africa, and we spent 200 years developing our culture as black Americans. And then we left the South. We uprooted ourselves and attempted to transplant this culture to the pavements of the industrialized North. And it was a transplant that did not take. I think if we had stayed in the South, we would have been a stronger people. And because the connection between the South of the 20's, 30's and 40's has been broken, it's very difficult to understand who we are. August Wilson land years thinking I cried a river of tears but he was too heavy to float on them. So I dragged him with me these years across an ocean. August Wilson ocean rivers years Suffice it to say, I'm not poor. August Wilson poor . . . what happened, of course, was that I was writing a play set in the 1940's that was supposed to be somehow representative of black American life, and I didn't have any women in there. And I knew that wasn't going to work. August Wilson black play writing If you want to support a writer, produce the first five plays he writes. August Wilson support play writing The details of our struggle to survive and prosper, in what has been a difficult and sometimes bitter relationship with a system of laws and practices that deny us access to the tools necessary for productive and industrious life, are available to any serious student of history or sociology. August Wilson practice struggle law Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner. August Wilson fastballs corners death I've never seen 'Seinfeld', never seen 'The Cosby Show'; I just don't watch it. I saw half of 'Oprah' one time. I'd rather read. August Wilson saws half watches For me, the original play becomes an historical document: This is where I was when I wrote it, and I have to move on now to something else. August Wilson historical play moving I first got involved in theater in 1968, at the height of a social tumult. I was a poet. August Wilson height poet firsts Between speeches and awards, you can find something to do every other week. It's hard to write. Your focus gets splintered. Once you put one thing in your calendar, that month is gone. August Wilson awards focus writing I know some things when I start. I know, let's say, that the play is going to be a 1970s or a 1930s play, and it's going to be about a piano, but that's it. I slowly discover who the characters are as I go along. August Wilson piano play character
