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Quote by Neil Simon

“It's always painful when you're writing memoirs because you've got to go through the dark places, but it gives you a chance to find out the person you really are, not the person you thought you were.”

Quote by Neil Simon

Author

Neil Simon is an American playwright known for his humorous and satirical style. His works cover a wide range of themes from family life to social issues, with many adapted into films and television shows. Born on July 4, 1927, Simon's career spanned over half a century, with more than 30 plays to his name. more

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“A lot of your personality is formed before you're 12, obviously, but only a few of my plays use characters from my childhood. The more mature plays are affected only by my adult experiences.”

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“I never write a play with an eye to film.”

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“I don't like losing the words, as you have to, when I'm asked to turn a play into a movie. It's not a matter of ego . . . I'm just better able to create the character for an audience through words rather than through actions.”

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“I much prefer writing an original movie with the screen in mind to transferring a play to the screen.”

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“I go to see plays all the time, and whenever I see Chekhov, I'm amazed at how this Russian play strikes home to me living 100 years later in New York City. I'm drawn to him because of his way with characters and their relationships with each other.”

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“I don't want to restrict the life of a play to a particular production. The original actors might leave after the first six months, and I want the play to last 30 or 40 years. You write for the character, not the actor on the stage.”

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“Writers feel like a middleman, standing with pen in hand over the page. A force greater than me stands above telling me what to write. That may sound romantic, but that's how it feels.”

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“You get attached to the way you write, and I'm attached to notebooks. That's where I really write the plays. Just two or three pages at a time, then I transfer to the typewriter and rewrite while I type.”

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“I don't use computers... I'm someone who needs to see the page right away in my hand.”

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“I don't like dating or just living with a woman. I like to create a relationship, a marriage. And almost all of my marriages have involved children, so I'm really a family man as well.”

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