What do you do with your legacy, and how do you best put it to use? August Wilson More Quotes by August Wilson More Quotes From August Wilson There's no reason why you can't say "August Wilson, playwright" even though all of my work, every single play, is about black Americans, about black American culture, about the black experience in America. I write about the black experience of men, or I write about black folks. That's who I am. In the same manner that Chekhov wrote about the Russians, I write about blacks. I couldn't do anything else. I wouldn't do anything else. August Wilson who-i-am writing men What comes forth from you as an artist cannot be controlled. But you have responsibilities as a global citizen. Your history dictates your duty. And by writing about black people, you are not limiting yourself. The experiences of African-Americans are as wide open as God's closet. August Wilson artist responsibility writing Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength. August Wilson illumination pain strength Blacks have traditionally had to operate in a situation where whites have set themselves up as the custodians of the black experience. August Wilson custodians experience black I think that's the core of black aesthetics: the ability to improvise. That is what has enabled our [black people's] survival. August Wilson black people thinking There are always and only two trains running. There is life and there is death. Each of us rides them both. To live life with dignity, to celebrate and accept responsibility for your presence in the world is all that can be asked of anyone. August Wilson responsibility running life Life don't owe you nothing. August Wilson life All art is political in the sense that it serves someone's politics. August Wilson art-is political art My greatest influence has been the blues. And that's a literary influence, because I think the blues is the best literature that we as black Americans have. August Wilson black literature thinking I'm a black American playwright. I couldn't be anything else. I make my art out of black American culture; they're all cut out of the same cloth. That's who I am; that's who I write about. August Wilson cutting writing art I work as an artist, and I think the audience of one, which is the self, and I have to satisfy myself as an artist. So I always say that I write for the same people that Picasso painted for. I think he painted for himself. August Wilson artist writing thinking I don't write for a particular audience. August Wilson audience particular writing 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 plot play reality As long as the colored man look to white folks to put the crown on what he say . . . as long as he looks to white folks for approval . . . then he ain't never gonna find out who he is and what he's about. August Wilson white men long You are responsible for the world that you live in. August Wilson responsible world A novelist writes a novel, and people read it. But reading is a solitary act. While it may elicit a varied and personal response, the communal nature of the audience is like having five hundred people read your novel and respond to it at the same time. I find that thrilling. August Wilson reading writing people I think that as a playwright, if I detail that environment, then I'm taking away something from them [designers]. I'm taking away their creativity and their ability to have input themselves, not just to follow what the playwright has written. So I do a minimum set description and let the designers create within that. August Wilson creativity input thinking When the sins of our fathers visit us We do not have to play host. We can banish them with forgiveness As God, in his His Largeness and Laws. August Wilson law play father Land [is] the only thing God ain't making no more of. August Wilson land The director works as an interpretive artist, but he's still an artist, so you also have to give him room to create and to put his vision of the play or his translation or interpretation of the material on the stage. August Wilson artist play giving
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