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David Mamet

David Mamet Quotes

Playwright

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Famous David Mamet Quotes

“The most charming of theories holds that someone other than Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays -- that he was of too low a state, and of insufficient education. But where in the wide history of the world do we find art created by the excessively wealthy, powerful, or educated?”

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Book:True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor
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“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.”

WorldYearsDifferentStoriesTogetherFightingForceLinesSpecialSixTrainingTradeConnectedFighterFortunateHanging OutLunchFascinatedCopJiu JitsuSpecial ForcesStuntman
Author:David Mamet
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“At the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, Sanford Meisner said, 'When you go into the professional world, at a stock theatre somewhere, backstage, you will meet an older actor, someone who has been around awhile. He will tell you tales and anecdotes, about life in the theatre. He will speak to you about your performance and the performances of others, and he will generalize to you, based on his experience and his intuitions, about the laws of the stage. Ignore this man!'”

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Author:David Mamet
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“When you come into the theatre, you have to be willing to say, 'We're all here to undergo a communion, to find out what the hell is going on in this world.' If you're not willing to say that, what you get is entertainment instead of art, and poor entertainment at that.”

IfsWorldArtPoorHellThis WorldWillingEntertainmentTheatreCommunion
Book:Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama
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“The popularity of disaster movies expresses a collective perception of a world threatened by irresistible and unforeseen forces which nevertheless are thwarted at the last moment. Their thinly veiled symbolic meaning might be translated thus: We are innocent of wrongdoing. We are attacked by unforeseeable forces come to harm us. We are, thus, innocent even of negligence. Though those forces are insuperable, chance will come to our aid and we shall emerge victorious.”

WorldMomentsMightLastsForceChancePerceptionTragedyHarmAidsDisasterInnocentCollectivesPopularityNeverthelessThreatenedSymbolicIrresistibleWrongdoingNegligenceUnforeseenSymbolic MeaningDisaster Movie
Author:David Mamet
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