I'm aware of my old plays and occasionally think about them, but I'm much more anxious about finding the next play.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of future creativity over past achievements.
Tom Stoppard expresses a sentiment common among artists and creators: while reflecting on past works can be valuable, the greater concern is always about moving forward and creating new, innovative work. This highlights the anxiety and drive that comes with the pursuit of continuous growth and creativity in one’s craft.
In practice
This quote could be used at a theater workshop to inspire aspiring playwrights.
Love is - OK, it's 20 things, but it isn't 19. And I think that love reaches for something which is very, very deep in us and is very easily obscured, and is also very easily denied, which is the instinct towards the other person, other than toward the self.
A movie camera is like having someone you have a crush on watching you from afar - you pretend it's not there.
I once did a radio program with a famous materialist, that is to say a scientist who believed that absolutely everything was physical and that all emotions were reductive to little electrical impulses in your neurons. And I found that I didn't believe that. But what the emotions really are, I don't have an alternative theory.
One of the reasons why there are so many versions of Chekhov is that translations date in a way that the original doesn't; translations seem to be of their time.
A Chinaman of the T'ang Dynasty—and, by which definition, a philosopher—dreamed he was a butterfly, and from that moment he was never quite sure that he was not a butterfly dreaming it was a Chinese philosopher. Envy him; in his two-fold security.
Chekhov directors and Chekhov actors love working on his plays because there seems to be no end to what you can find out about the micro-narrative when you're investigating a text.
The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.
And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ere long.
The universe has much bigger plans for you than you ever dreamed of for yourself.
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
Tell me, why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?.
Before competition, as I stand in shoulder pads and cleats, my helmet in my left hand, adrenaline flowing and my heart raging under my right, I never forget the ills of America, but for a moment I envision its potential, remember its prosperity, and give thanks to God for the land He has placed me in and the people I love who live in it.
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