Humor is just another defense against the universe.
Mel BrooksRead
Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the complexity of human nature and the writer's role in portraying these inner identities through storytelling.
Mel Brooks highlights that every individual is a rich tapestry of different identities and experiences, and a talented writer has the unique ability to articulate and develop these various facets into distinct characters in their work. This underscores the writer's skill in capturing the multifaceted nature of humanity and illustrating the interactions of these characters within a narrative.
In practice
In a writing workshop, a teacher might use this quote to discuss character development.
Humor is just another defense against the universe.
Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive.
You got to be brave. If you feel something, you've really got to risk it.
Hope for the Best. Expect the worst. Life is a play. We're unrehearsed.
If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy and colorful and lively.
We want to get people laughing; we don't want to offend anybody.
When the writer (or the artist in general) says he has worked without giving any thought to the rules of the process, he simply means he was working without realizing he knew the rules.
Music is a spiritual thing, you don't play with music. If you play with music you will die young. You see, because when the higher forces give you the gift of music...musicians hip, it must be well used for the gift of humanity.
The main reason for rewriting is not to achieve a smooth surface, but to discover the inner truth of your characters.
Photographs may be more memorable than moving images, because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Each still photograph is a privileged moment turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again.
It always gave me the creeps when I saw performers who desperately wanted the audience to like them. That's not what I'm about.
I look at my voice and my abilities as a gift. I don't feel that I can even take any credit for it, but it's such a huge presence in my life. It is my life. It's my identity, it's everything. And it's given me a great deal of joy and a sense of purpose - I can't imagine my life without it.
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