David Mamet Quotes

The main question in drama, the way I was taught, is always, 'What does the protagonist want?' That's what drama is. It comes down to that. It's not about theme, it's not about ideas, it's not about setting, but what the protagonist wants.

David Mamet

• Question
• Drama

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Quotes to Explore

• One of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing.

  

  E. L. Doctorow
  • Writing
  • Myself
  • Trust

• The Kapoor surname has legend, a passion for acting, respect and love attached to it. And I am very proud of that.

  

  Karisma Kapoor
  • Respect
  • Passion
  • Proud

• We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?

  

  Samuel Beckett
  • People
  • Saints
  • Appointment

• A designer is like a doctor for a woman. He has a specific job, and if he is doing it well, he will have the gratitude of the woman for the rest of his life.

  

  Oleg Cassini
  • Life
  • Job
  • Rest

• People are not perfect... very often the relationships that are strongest are those where people have worked through big crises, but they've had to work through them. So the challenge to us is to work through that.

  

  Patricia Hewitt
  • People
  • Work
  • Perfect

• It is ingrained in all living creatures, first of all, to preserve their own safety, to guard against what is harmful, to strive for what is advantageous.

  

  Saint Ambrose
  • First
  • Safety
  • Strive

• I've really written my books for my husband and our family. They've brought us closer together by allowing us to discuss things that were unspoken for so long.

  

  Pamela Stephenson
  • Long
  • Family
  • Together

• I'm fortunate to be famous for two rather imposing characters like Magneto and Gandalf.

  

  Ian Mckellen
  • Like
  • Famous
  • Two

• If you eat something and get fat, you should be responsible for it. I think that is the attitude of the great majority of Americans, that you should be responsible for what you eat.

  

  Vic Snyder
  • Great
  • Attitude
  • Fat

• I think there's plenty of evidence that we need to stop spewing so much carbon into the air, that we're contributing to climate change and that we ought to look for alternatives.

  

  Lamar Alexander
  • Change
  • Stop
  • Air

• They say making laws is like making sausages. You shouldn't watch. It's the same for acting, especially for the actor who works unconsciously.

  

  Ed Asner
  • Acting
  • Same
  • Laws

• There is a liberal fascism that is dedicated to going after believing Christians who follow the biblical teaching on marriage.

  

  Ted Cruz
  • Marriage
  • Believing
  • Liberal

• It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.

  

  Jackie Joyner-Kersee
  • Better
  • Regret
  • Prepare

• When I did '1,2,3,4' on 'Sesame Street' they'd rewritten the song and made it about counting. At first, I balked. I was like, 'Counting to four? That's where we're going with this?' Then they sent me appearances by other people like James Blunt doing 'You're Beautiful' as 'My Triangle.'

  

  Feist
  • People
  • Beautiful
  • Song

• I will not promote other people's songs big time. I will just mention that I produced the song to get the credit I think I deserve.

  

  Anton Zaslavski
  • People
  • Time
  • Song

• I feel very competitive with Robert Morse off-set. We often duke it out. He always wins.

  

  Aaron Staton
  • Always
  • Feel
  • Competitive

• Nothing can happen more beautiful than death.

  

  Walt Whitman
  • Death
  • Beautiful
  • Happen

• I started out with almost entirely black fans except for a little handful of people in the horror writers' community, and those people really liked horror, you know. They will go to any lengths and read whomever they can find because they like that feeling of being scared.

  

  Tananarive Due
  • People
  • Black
  • Feeling

• The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.

  

  Pamela Hansford Johnson
  • Nature
  • Water
  • Fire

• A city whose living immediacy is so urgent that when I am in it I lose all sense of the past.

  

  Kenneth Tynan
  • Past
  • City

• One of the earliest resurrection scenes in the Bible is that of Thomas demanding evidence - he wanted to see, to touch, to prove. Those who question and probe and debate are heirs of the apostles just as much as the most fervent of believers.

  

  Jon Meacham
  • Question
  • Bible

• When she set Shane’s glass of Coke down in front of him, she did it with probably a little too much emphasis; he glanced up at her with a question-mark expression.[...] ‘‘What?’’ Shane asked her, and took a drink. ‘‘Did I forget to say thanks? Because, thanks. Best Coke ever. Did you make it yourself? Special recipe?

  

  Rachel Caine
  • Up
  • She
  • Question

• Obviously, circumstances alone do not make us happy or unhappy. It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feelings. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is within you. That is where the kingdom of hell is, too.

  

  Dale Carnegie
  • Happy
  • Alone
  • Jesus

• The main question in drama, the way I was taught, is always, 'What does the protagonist want?' That's what drama is. It comes down to that. It's not about theme, it's not about ideas, it's not about setting, but what the protagonist wants.

  

  David Mamet
  • Question
  • Drama