A play, after all, is a mystery. There's no narration. And as soon as there's no narration, it's open to interpretation. It must be interpreted. You don't have a choice... Each play can become many things.
Mike NicholsRead
Things come in waves, and I'm always more interested in places like, for instance, Chicago, where people don't follow fashion. They're not galloping past your window on the way to the latest anything. They're living their lives. You do a play, they come and see it and say, 'That's nice', and then they go home.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of authenticity over trends in life, highlighting a genuine engagement with experiences.
Mike Nichols reflects on the essence of living authentically rather than being swept away by the ever-changing waves of fashion and trends. He appreciates cities like Chicago where individuals are grounded and engaged in their daily lives, valuing art and experiences for their own sake rather than for societal validation. In this perspective, life is about sincere interactions with art and the world rather than merely following popular trends.
Themes
AuthenticityLifeExperienceArtFashionChicago
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of local culture and authenticity in art, you could use this quote to illustrate genuine appreciation over trends.
More from Mike Nichols
All quotes →There’s nothing better than discovering, to your own astonishment, what you’re meant to do. It’s like falling in love.
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You could say that it's in talking movies that inner life begins to appear. You can see things happen to the faces of people that were neither planned nor rehearsed.
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The thing about being an outsider... is that it teaches you to hear what people are thinking because you're constantly looking for the people who just don't give a damn.
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I've learned that many of the worst things lead to the best things, that no great thing is achieved without a couple of bad, bad things on the way to them, and that the bad things that happen to you bring, in some cases, the good things.
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Plays, especially great plays, yield their secrets over a long period of time. You can't read it three times and say, 'OK, I got it. I know what's happening.'
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