A good actor always sets you straight. If you've written a false moment and thought it was probably pretty great, the actor's gonna show you when he gets to that moment. They're the great test of the validity of the material.
Sam ShepardRead
I feel like the writers that I'm drawn to, the writers that I really cling to, are the writers who seem to be writing out of a desperate act. It's like their writing is part of a survival kit. Those are the writers that I just absolutely cherish and carry with me everywhere I go.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote speaks to the profound connection the speaker feels to writers whose work reflects a deep, personal struggle and need for expression.
Sam Shepard expresses admiration for writers who convey their experiences and emotions with urgency, suggesting that their writing serves as a vital lifeline or 'survival kit' for both the writer and the reader. This connection emphasizes the importance of authenticity and emotional depth in literature, revealing how such works resonate and remain significant in one's life.
Themes
WritersSurvivalArtExpressionEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a literature class discussing the emotional depths of writing.
More from Sam Shepard
All quotes →I stay away from heavy-handed stuff, the good guy and the bad guy. It just doesn't interest me; all it does is create more fences between people, I think.
Sam ShepardRead
I hate endings. Just detest them. Beginnings are definitely the most exciting, middles are perplexing and endings are a disaster. … The temptation towards resolution, towards wrapping up the package, seems to me a terrible trap. Why not be more honest with the moment? The most authentic endings are the ones which are already revolving towards another beginning. That’s genius.
Sam ShepardRead
There are places where writing is acting and acting is writing. I'm not so interested in the divisions. I'm interested in the way things cross over.
Sam ShepardRead
Democracy's a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it's no longer democracy, is it? It's something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism.
Sam ShepardRead
On stage, you're not limited at all because you're free in language: language is the source of the imagination. You can travel farther in language than you can in any film.
Sam ShepardRead
Similar quotes
I think that cinema and the arts are central in our lives because we grow up and learn about the world through our exposure to stories. Parents use them as a tool to teach their children fundamental truths and values, much as adults can view them to gain exposure to cultures and individuals that they'd never be able to view in their own lives.
Forest WhitakerRead
It takes 25 years to learn to draw, one hour to learn to paint.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique IngresRead
We rode on the winds of the rising storm, We ran to the sounds of the thunder. We danced among the lightning bolts, and tore the world asunder.
Robert JordanRead
I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of me. That would be a pointless lie, a mere bit of artfulness.
Lucian FreudRead
When I land in a country and they ask for 'occupation,' I always just put 'artist.' I think that covers all of it.
Viggo MortensenRead
In art, one does not aim for simplicity; one achieves it unintentionally as one gets closer to the real meaning of things.
Constantin BrancusiRead