They say you can't study Kabbalah until you are at least 40 years old. You know why? You have to have experienced at least one generation making the same mistakes as the previous one.
David MametRead
It's hard to write a good play because it's hard to structure a plot. If you can think of it off the top of your head, so can the audience.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creating a compelling play requires careful plotting, as audiences are perceptive and quick to see through shallow narratives.
David Mamet emphasizes the challenges of crafting a well-structured play, highlighting that effective storytelling requires careful consideration and creativity. He points out that if a writer can easily conceive a plot, the audience can do the same, which implies that originality and depth are essential to engage an audience meaningfully.
Themes
PlaywritingPlotStorytellingAudienceCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a drama workshop when discussing techniques for creating engaging plots.
More from David Mamet
All quotes βMy alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign.
David MametRead
You know, young actors say all the time, 'Should I use my own life experience?' And my response is, 'What choice do you have?'
David MametRead
It's hard for a Jew of my generation, an American Jew, who is philo-Zionistic, not to romanticize Israel.
David MametRead
You can't write about history without writing about politics at some point. History is about movements of people. 'What is criminality and what is government' is a theme that runs through every history.
David MametRead
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.
David MametRead
Similar quotes
You know, the camera is not meant just to show misery.
Gordon ParksRead
Good literature can be created only with something that is different from literature.
Italo CalvinoRead
I find with records, they become what they're going to become. They take on a power and a direction of their own. Part of making records is to honor that and not try to force it.
Emmylou HarrisRead
Prose is like hair; it shines with combing.
Gustave FlaubertRead
The BAFTAs give the British point of view, and the Oscars give the American point of view, but the truth is we're all working in an international industry.
Ian MckellenRead
The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them. It seems to me it's something that theatre can do, but it's rare; it's very rare.
John BergerRead