Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness - the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.
Sean O'CaseyRead
The drama's altar isn't on the stage: it is candle-sticked and flowered in the box office. There is the gold, though there be no frankincense or myrrh; and the gospel for the day always The Play will Run for a Year. The Dove of Inspiration, of the desire for inspiration, has flown away from it; and on it's roof, now, the commonplace crow caws candidly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artistic success often relies more on commercial success than on creative inspiration.
In this quote, Sean O'Casey emphasizes that the true heart of theatrical success isn't found in the artistry presented on stage, but rather in the financial returns at the box office. He suggests that the drive for creativity is often overshadowed by the commercial aspects of theater, where the allure of profit can sometimes drown out genuine inspiration, leaving behind a mundane reality instead of the profound art that was intended.
Themes
TheaterArtInspirationSuccessCommerce
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the challenges of artistic integrity in commercial theater.
More from Sean O'Casey
All quotes →If church prelates, past or present, had even an inkling of physiology they'd realize that what they term this inner ugliness creates and nourishes the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the active mind, and energetic body of man and woman, in the same way that dirt and dung at the roots give the plant its delicate leaves and the full-blown rose.
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Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, great as each may be, their highest comfort given to the sorrowful is a cordial introduction into another's woe. Sorrow's the great community in which all men born of woman are members at one time or another.
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Wealth often takes away chances from men as well as poverty. There is none to tell the rich to go on striving, for a rich man makes the law that hallows and hollows his own life.
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There's nothing so passionate as a vested interest disguised as an intellectual conviction.
Sean O'CaseyRead
Politics - I don't know why, but they seem to have a tendency to separate us, to keep us from one another, while nature is always and ever making efforts to bring us together.
Sean O'CaseyRead
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