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
If the scene bores you when you read it, rest assured it WILL bore the actors, and will then bore the audience, and we're all going to be back in the breadline.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Engagement in storytelling is vital; if it doesn't captivate you, it won't captivate others either.
David Mamet highlights the importance of authenticity and engagement in performance and storytelling. He warns that if a writer finds a scene dull or uninspired, the actors will equally struggle to bring it to life, resulting in a lackluster performance that ultimately fails to engage the audience. This disconnect can lead to failure in the art of storytelling, which is crucial in sustaining the creative professions.
Themes
StorytellingEngagementAudiencePerformanceCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be referenced in a theater workshop on creating engaging scenes.
More from David Mamet
All quotes →My 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
I don't need to write comics for a living. I have movies and TV for that. I write comics for one reason and one reason only: I love comics. I love the form, the structure, the storytelling process, I love everything about it.
J. Michael StraczynskiRead
I've been very fortunateit's just been an amazing piece of luck. I haven't had to suffer for my art but I've suffered enough inside to hopefully be called an artist.
Christopher PlummerRead
I get my best ideas in a thunderstorm. I have the power and majesty of nature on my side.
Ralph SteadmanRead
Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment.
Alexander McqueenRead
Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashipn the theme of Iluvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Iluvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
You see, what is my purpose of performance artist is to stage certain difficulties and stage the fear the primordial fear of pain, of dying, all of which we have in our lives, and then stage them in front of audience and go through them and tell the audience, 'I'm your mirror; if I can do this in my life, you can do it in yours.'
Marina AbramovicRead