Do you know what a playwright is? A playwright is someone who lets his guts hang out on the stage.
Edward AlbeeRead
Every monster was a man first.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that all individuals have the capacity for both good and evil, and that adversity can shape one's nature.
Edward Albee's quote 'Every monster was a man first' reflects the idea that every person has a history and circumstances that contribute to their current state. It implies that behaviors perceived as monstrous often stem from experiences, choices, and societal influences, urging us to consider the humanity behind actions that we might deem as inhumane.
In practice
In a discussion about redemption and change, this quote can highlight the themes of understanding one's past.
Do you know what a playwright is? A playwright is someone who lets his guts hang out on the stage.
When a critic sets himself up as an arbiter of morality, a judge of the matter and not the manner of a work, he is no longer a critic; he is a censor.
I am convinced that no one is fully educated without a full grounding in the arts.
Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it.
Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve.
Your source material is the people you know, not those you don't know, but every character is an extension of the author's own personality.
Our writing equipment takes part in forming our thoughts.
We all - whether naturalists, atheists, Buddhists, or Christians - see the world through the grid of an interpretive framework - and ultimately this interpretive framework is religious in nature, even if not allied with a particular institutional religion.
It is a predisposition of human nature to consider an unpleasant idea untrue, and then it is easy to find arguments against it.
Life itself is but the shadow of death, and souls departed but the shadows of the living.
He was kindhearted, in a way. You know the sort of kind heart: it made him uncomfortable more often than it made him do anything; and even when he did anything, it did not prevent him from grumbling, losing his temper and swearing (mostly to himself).
A man's intentions should be allowed in some respects to plead for his actions.
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