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David Mamet

David Mamet Quotes

Playwright

David Mamet, born on November 30, 1947, is a renowned American playwright. His works are known for their unique style and profound themes, with notable plays including 'Glengarry Glen Ross' and 'Othello'. Mamet's plays often delve into themes of power, language, and morality, having a profound impact on modern theater.

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All Ifs People Want Writing Knows Audience Thinking Play Drama Film

Famous David Mamet Quotes

“I pray you indulge me for a space, for I am going to set out on a speech which may have some duration, but whose theme may be gleaned from its opening phrase: how dare you.”

May Space Praying Speech Dare Opening Phrases Theme Indulge I Pray Duration

Book:Boston Marriage

Source: Boston Marriage

“Hitchcock denigrated American films, saying they were all 'pictures of people talking' - as, indeed, most of them are.”

People Film Talking Hitchcock People Talking American Film

Book:On directing film

Source: On directing film

“A stage play is basically a form of uber-schizophrenia. You split yourself into two minds - one being the protagonist and the other being the antagonist. The playwright also splits himself into two other minds: the mind of the writer and the mind of the audience.”

Mind Two Play Form Audience Stage Splits Playwright Schizophrenia Protagonists Antagonist Uber Stage Play Two Minds

Author:David Mamet

“War is tragedy. The great war stories are tragedies. It's the failure of diplomacy. 'War and Peace,' 'A Farewell to Arms,' 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' Those are some of the greatest tragedies.”

War Stories Arms Tragedy Bells Farewell Diplomacy Great War Tolls War Stories Farewell To Arms Whom The Bell Tolls

Author:David Mamet

“The true writer must write not the acceptable but the true.”

Writing Acceptable

Book:Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

Source: Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

“I'm responding to the will of the people.”

People Crime Responding

Author:David Mamet

“You got an all-out prize fight, you wait 'til the fight's over, one guy's left standing and that's how you know who's won.”

Knows Law Guy Fighting Winning Left Waiting Standing Prize

Author:David Mamet

“Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide.”

Law Lows Towns Corruption Welcome Chicago Tides Stink Untouchables

Author:David Mamet

“The first amendment ensures not that speech will be fair, but that it will be free. It cannot be both.”

Firsts Speech Fairs Amendments First Amendment

Author:David Mamet

“A good writer gets better only by learning to cut, to remove the ornamental, the descriptive, the narrative, and especially the deeply felt and meaningful. What remains? The story remains.”

Stories Felt Cutting Remains Meaningful Narrative Get Better Remove Good Writers

Book:On directing film

Source: On directing film

“You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way! And that's how you get Capone.”

Way Want Gun Hospitals Chicago Knives Untouchables Morgues Capone

Author:David Mamet

“I've been training in Jiu-jitsu for about six years and I'm very fortunate to live in that world. All the fighters hang out and have lunch together just about every day and trade stories. And I've always been fascinated how in the world of Jiu-jitsu in L.A. everybody in the fight world - cops, special forces, bouncers, stuntmen - connected across different lines.”

World Years Different Stories Together Fighting Force Lines Special Six Training Trade Connected Fighter Fortunate Hanging Out Lunch Fascinated Cop Jiu Jitsu Special Forces Stuntman

Author:David Mamet

“The secret knowledge is there's nobody home but us chickens. The Constitution was written by a bunch of regular guys who tried to get together and thrash out a contract under which they could get together that would keep people together.”

People Home Together Guy Secret Written Constitution Bunch Chickens Contracts Get Together Secret Knowledge

Author:David Mamet

“The realization that I came to is that each citizen for himself or herself understands the economics, which is, "I better make more than I spend and I better put something aside for a rainy day, and I want to get a good idea about what to do with the surplus so that perhaps it can grow while I'm sleeping." And that that's capitalism. Everybody practices it, but half of the country - those on the left - deny that it's true.”

Want Ideas Country Left Grows Sleep Half Practice Citizens Capitalism Economics Deny Realization Good Ideas Rainy Rainy Day Surplus

Author: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.”

Ifs Way Feels Said Slavery West Leftists

Author:David Mamet

“If You can't tell it to me in one sentence, they can't put it in TV Guide.”

Ifs Tvs Sentences Guides One Sentence

Book:Speed-the-plow

Source: Speed-the-plow

“Liberalism is a religion. Its tenets cannot be proved, its capacity for waste and destruction demonstrated. But it affords a feeling of spiritual rectitude at little or no cost.”

Littles Feelings Spiritual Cost Waste Capacity Destruction Liberalism Rectitude

Book:The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

Source: The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

“To find beauty in the sad, hope in the midst of loss, and dignity in failure is great poetic art.”

Art Loss Dignity Midst Poetic Great Poet

Author:David Mamet

“For it is written that just as it is forbidden to partake of the forbidden, it is forbidden not to partake of the permitted.”

Written Forbidden

Book:The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews

Source: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews

“Storytelling is like sex. We all do it naturally. Some of us are better at it than others.”

Sex Storytelling

Book:Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

Source: Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

“You get rich through luck. You get rich through crime. You get rich through fulfilling the needs of another. You can be as greedy as you like. If you can’t do one of those three things, you ain’t going to get any money.”

Ifs Needs Three Rich Crime Luck Fulfilling Greedy Three Things Get Rich

Author:David Mamet

“Being among my people is a delight. We Jews live among ourselves. I love it.”

People Jew Delight

Book:The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

Source: The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

“All rhetorical questions are accusations.”

Accusation Rhetorical Rhetorical Question

Author:David Mamet

“I tend to write a lot, which I think is the secret to being prolific.”

Thinking Writing Secret

Author:David Mamet

“Cultivate a love of skill. Learn theatrical skills. They will give you continual pleasure, self-confidence, and link you to fifty thousand years of the history of our profession.”

Giving Years Self Pleasure Thousand Skills Profession Self Confidence Fifty Links Thousand Years Theatrical

Book:True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor

Source: True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor

“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.”

People Want Real Reason Character Speak Stage Real Life

Author:David Mamet

“"Based on a true story" is a come-on, the aesthetic equivalent of "no loan request refused." For, at best, the creator has fashioned a film based on his understanding of, interpretation of, and reduction of the report of an actual occurrence.”

Stories Film Understanding Creator Reports Interpretation Aesthetic Loan Request Reduction True Story

Book:Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

Source: Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

“They say the definition of ambivalence is watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff in your new Cadillac.”

Law Mother Definitions Cliffs In-laws Mother In Law Ambivalence Cadillacs

Author:David Mamet

“Forget narrative, backstory, characterisation, exposition, all of that. Just make the audience want to know what happens next.”

Knows Want Happens Next Forget Audience Narrative

Author:David Mamet

“My dad was an immigrant kid and a Democrat and a Jew, and we didn't know any Republicans in our group. So I grew up Democratic. My dad was a labor lawyer - a very hardworking guy, a one-horse labor lawyer - and then I went to hippie college and lived in the bubble.”

Knows Kids Guy Groups College Grew Dad Republican Grew Up Labor Horse Democratic Democrat My Dad Jew Lawyer Immigrants Bubbles Hippie Hardworking

Author:David Mamet

“Obama is a tyrant the same way FDR was a tyrant. He has a view of presidential power that states: the government is in control of the country, and the president is in charge of the government. He's taken an imperial view of the presidency.”

Way Country States Government President Views Taken Presidential Tyrants Presidency Presidential Power

Author:David Mamet

“I've always been more comfortable sinking while clutching a good theory than swimming with an ugly fact.”

Facts Theory Comfortable Ugly Swimming Sinking

Book:House of Games: A Screenplay

Source: House of Games: A Screenplay

“The Israelis would like to live in peace within their borders; the Arabs would like to kill them all.”

Borders Peace Within

Book:The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

Source: The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture

“I've been alienating my public since I was 20 years old. When 'American Buffalo' came out on Broadway, people would storm out and say, 'How dare he use that kind of language!' Of course I'm alienating the public! That's what they pay me for.”

People Years Kind Use Courses Language Pay Dare Storm Broadway Buffalo

Author:David Mamet

“The honest man might observe... that no one gets something for nothing; that politicians go in poor and go out rich; that the Government screws up everything it touches; and that the Will to Believe is best confined to the Religious Venue, as to practice it elsewhere is just too damned expensive.”

Men Believe Government Might Religious Poor Practice Rich Honest Politician Expensive Elsewhere Screws Confined Honest Man Screw Ups Venues

Author:David Mamet

“Here's what happens in a play. You get involved in a situation where something is unbalanced. If nothing's unbalanced, there's no reason to have a play. If Hamlet comes home from school, and his dad's not dead and asks him if he's had a good time, it's boring. But if something's unbalanced, it must be returned to order.”

Ifs Reason Play Home Happens School Order Asks Situation Dad Involved Boring Good Times No Reason Coming Home Get Involved Unbalanced Had A Good Time

Author:David Mamet

“Conservatives believe in smaller government and in the power of the electorate. So I think that we're less likely to try to use a dramatic forum to warp people's political views.”

People Thinking Trying Believe Use Government Political Views Dramatic Forums Electorate Warp Political View Smaller Government

Author:David Mamet

“My tendency as an actor was to correct people, was to say, 'What if we tried it this way, what about if we tried that way?' That's terrible habit for an actor, but that's a good habit for director. So I became a director.”

People Ifs Way Actors Habit Terrible Directors Tendencies What If Good Habits

Author:David Mamet

“I love working on a typewriter - the rhythm, the sound; it's like playing the piano, which I do, too.”

Sound Rhythm Piano Typewriters

Author:David Mamet

“Roll back the clock, and every possession of every great country started with a crime.”

Country Crime Possession Clock Great Country

Author:David Mamet

“I didn't knowingly meet a conservative until, to my shame, I was 60 years old and sat down and said, 'Wow, I don't understand what this guy's talking about, but he has a great civility about him. Perhaps I better investigate this thing.'”

Years Said Guy Talking Shame Down And Conservative Sat Wow This Guy Civility

Author:David Mamet

“If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm all criminals, and let them accidentally shoot themselves? Is this absurd? Yes, and yet the government, of course, is arming criminals.”

Ifs Government Courses Dangerous Arms Criminals Absurd Make Sense Firearms Aggressors

Author:David Mamet

“My definition of a 'friend' is, coming from Chicago, someone who says, 'Yeah, sure. You know what? Let's talk about what we can talk about. Let's help each other out. Your politics are none of my business.'”

Knows Helping Yeah Definitions Chicago Helping Each Other

Author:David Mamet

“People ask me, 'What do you do?' And I tell them I'm a writer, but always with the silent reservation, 'I am, of course, not really a writer. Hemingway was a writer.'”

People Courses Asks Silent Ask Me Reservations

Author:David Mamet

“There's nothing in the world more silent than the telephone the morning after everybody pans your play. It won't ring from room service; your mother won't be calling you. If the phone has not rung by 8 in the morning, you're dead.”

Ifs World Play Mother Rooms Morning Calling Silent Phones Rings Telephones Morning After Room Service

Author:David Mamet

“I like Bach. I like Randy Newman.”

Author:David Mamet

“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.”

Ifs Thinking Writing Hard Play Audience Structure Plot

Author:David Mamet

“I hate the computer. I hate their spell-check. I won't ever do e-mail.”

Hate Computer I Hate Checks Spells Mail Spell Check

Author:David Mamet

“The liberals in my neighbourhood wouldn't give away Brentwood to the Palestinians, but they want to give away Tel Aviv.”

Want Giving Palestinian Neighbourhoods

Author:David Mamet

“When I started out I was a failed actor.”

Author:David Mamet

About the Author

Born: November 30, 1947
Known for: Playwright
Quotes: 238

Related Topics

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Popular Topics

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Books & Sources

On directing filmRelated source material

Writing in restaurantsRelated source material

True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the ActorRelated source material

The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American CultureRelated source material

Mamet Plays: 2: Reunion; Dark Pony; A Life in the Theatre; The Woods; Lakeboat; EdmondRelated source material

Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie BusinessRelated source material

Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of DramaRelated source material

Boston MarriageRelated source material

FaustusRelated source material

House of Games: A ScreenplayRelated source material

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