Young screenwriters are always very frustrated when they talk to me. They say, 'How do we get to be a screenwriter?' I say, 'You know what you do? I'll tell you the secret, it's easy: Read 'Hamlet.' You know? Then read it again, and read it again, and read it until you understand it. Read 'King Lear,' and then read 'Othello.'
Interpretation
To become a great screenwriter, immersive reading of classic literature is essential.
This quote emphasizes the importance of foundational literary knowledge for aspiring screenwriters. By advocating for the close study of Shakespeare's works, John Logan suggests that understanding complex characters and narratives found in these timeless plays is crucial for writers who wish to develop their craft and storytelling abilities.
In practice
A workshop on screenwriting techniques could include a discussion on the importance of classical literature.
Personally speaking, growing up as a gay man before it was as socially acceptable as it is now, I knew what it was to feel different, to feel alienated and to feel not like everyone else. But the very same thing that made me monstrous to some people also empowered me and made me who I was.
Nature without learning is like a blind man; learning without Nature, like a maimed one; practice without both, incomplete. As in agriculture a good soil is first sought for, then a skilful husbandman, and then good seed; in the same way nature corresponds to the soil, the teacher to the husbandman, precepts and instruction to the seed.
The door available to everyone that can lead to happiness & success is the modest door of the public library. I found it to be so in my own life and work.
Most areas of intellectual life have discovered the virtues of speculation, and have embraced them wildly. In academia, speculation is usually dignified as theory.
I had this feeling that, somehow, we ought to be teaching not just the history of particular nations or particular regions, but the history of humanity.
there is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be
And let no one suppose that I claim that just living can be taught for, in a word, I hold that there does not exist an art of the kind which can implant sobriety and justice into depraved natures. Nevertheless, I do think that the study of political discourse can help more than any other thing to stimulate and form such qualities of character
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