There is no such thing as character other than the habitual action, as Mr. Aristotle told us two thousand years ago. David Mamet More Quotes by David Mamet More Quotes From David Mamet Like Lincoln said: "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong," and I feel the same way about the leftist dismantling of the West. If that's not wrong, then nothing is wrong. David Mamet slavery west way Listen, here's the thing about an English degree - if you sat somebody down and asked them to make a list of the writers they admire over the last hundred years, see how many of them got a degree in English. David Mamet down-and degrees years The subject of drama is The Lie. At the end of the drama THE TRUTH -- which has been overlooked, disregarded, scorned, and denied -- prevails. And that is how we know the Drama is done. David Mamet writing drama lying Art is an expression of joy and awe. It is not an attempt to share one's virtues and accomplishments with the audience, but an act of selfless spirit. David Mamet accomplishment expression art Luck, if there is such a thing, is either going to favor everyone equally or going to exhibit a preference for the prepared. David Mamet preference favors luck They have a desire to put on plays and to fulfill that traditional role of a theater in a community: to be the place where people go to hear the truth. David Mamet theatre people It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs. David Mamet determine government needs Every fear hides a wish. David Mamet fear wish Society functions in a way much more interesting than the multiple-choice pattern we have been rewarded for succeeding at in school. Success in life comes not from the ability to choose between the four presented answers, but from the rather more difficult and painfully acquired ability to formulate the questions. David Mamet multiple-choice interesting school Characters on stage, like people in what we refer to as "real life," do not speak to reveal themselves. They do not speak to conceal themselves. They speak to get whatever it is that they want. It is the only reason they speak. David Mamet real character people We live in oppressive times. We have, as a nation, become our own thought police; but instead of calling the process by which we limit our expression of dissent and wonder ‘censorship,’ we call it ‘concern for commercial viability. David Mamet freedom media expression A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue. David Mamet movie scripts able We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie. David Mamet pie stress food The job of the artist, is to say, wait a second, everything that we have thought is wrong. Let's re-examine it. David Mamet artist waiting jobs I've always been fascinated by the picaresque. David Mamet picaresque fascinated The first amendment ensures not that speech will be fair, but that it will be free. It cannot be both. David Mamet first-amendment speech firsts A play is basically a long, formalistic polemic. You can write it without the poetry, and if you do, you may have a pretty good play. We know this because we see plays in translation. Not many people speak Norwegian or Danish or whatever guys like Ibsen spoke, or Russian - yet we understand Chekhov and the others. David Mamet play writing long It's hard to write a good play because it's hard to structure a plot. If you can think of it off the top of your head, so can the audience. David Mamet play writing thinking Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. David Mamet beats youth age The government, for example, has determined that black people (somehow) have fewer abilities than white people, and, so, must be given certain preferences. Anyone acquainted with both black and white people knows this assessment is not only absurd but monstrous. And yet it is the law. David Mamet assessment black-and-white government
