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" In practice we, in the world, must do business with each other. "
David Mamet
Business
Practice
Other
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" I used to think I'd like to be a fireman - in fact, I still would - and the only drawback I could see was coming back to the firehouse, after a day of fighting fires, and still having to put in an eight-hour day writing. "
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" The essence of jiu-jitsu is philosophy. "
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Philosophy
Essence
" 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. "
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Say
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" American football seems to resemble soccer in that one scores by putting the ball through the opponent's goal; but football, truly is about land. The Settlers want to move the line of scrimmage Westward, the Native Americans want to move it East. "
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Goal
Football
American
" I'm entitled to my political opinions, and I get to vote because I'm an American. "
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Political
American
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" Obama is a tyrant the same way FDR was a tyrant. He has a view of presidential power that states: the government is in control of the country, and the president is in charge of the government. He's taken an imperial view of the presidency. "
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Power
View
Way
" I've always been more comfortable sinking while clutching a good theory than swimming with an ugly fact. "
David Mamet
Always
More
Fact
" A stage play is basically a form of uber-schizophrenia. You split yourself into two minds - one being the protagonist and the other being the antagonist. The playwright also splits himself into two other minds: the mind of the writer and the mind of the audience. "
David Mamet
Yourself
You
Stage
" 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 Mamet
Know
Life
Time
" It's hard to write a good plot, it's very hard. "
David Mamet
Very
Hard
Good
" I didn't knowingly meet a conservative until, to my shame, I was 60 years old and sat down and said, 'Wow, I don't understand what this guy's talking about, but he has a great civility about him. Perhaps I better investigate this thing.' "
David Mamet
Civility
Talking
Meet
" Movies were never an art form, they were entertainment. It just evolved into an art form from there, and it's still evolving in different ways. "
David Mamet
Movies
Never
Just
" A play is basically a long, formalistic polemic. You can write it without the poetry, and if you do, you may have a pretty good play. We know this because we see plays in translation. Not many people speak Norwegian or Danish or whatever guys like Ibsen spoke, or Russian - yet we understand Chekhov and the others. "
David Mamet
Know
People
Good
" The Israelis would like to live in peace within their borders; the Arabs would like to kill them all. "
David Mamet
Them
Within
Peace
" Always tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember. "
David Mamet
Always
Remember
Tell
" I hate the computer. I hate their spell-check. I won't ever do e-mail. "
David Mamet
E-Mail
Hate
Ever
" The main question in drama, the way I was taught, is always, 'What does the protagonist want?' That's what drama is. It comes down to that. It's not about theme, it's not about ideas, it's not about setting, but what the protagonist wants. "
David Mamet
Way
Always
Drama
" Roll back the clock, and every possession of every great country started with a crime. "
David Mamet
Clock
Great
Crime
" When we leave the play saying how spectacular the sets or costumes were, or how interesting the ideas, it means we had a bad time. "
David Mamet
Saying
Time
Ideas
" I don't think there's any information to be gotten from television. "
David Mamet
Television
Information
Any
" It's hard for a Jew of my generation, an American Jew, who is philo-Zionistic, not to romanticize Israel. "
David Mamet
Israel
Who
American
" People ask me, 'What do you do?' And I tell them I'm a writer, but always with the silent reservation, 'I am, of course, not really a writer. Hemingway was a writer.' "
David Mamet
You
Always
People
" The surprise is half the battle. Many things are half the battle, losing is half the battle. Let's think about what's the whole battle. "
David Mamet
Things
Think
Surprise
" A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue. "
David Mamet
Dialogue
Film
Without
" I'm afraid of only two things: being lazy and being cowardly. "
David Mamet
Afraid
Only
Things
" I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind. "
David Mamet
Mind
View
Liberal
" The Founders recognized that Government is quite literally a necessary evil, that there must be opposition, between its various branches, and between political parties, for these are the only ways to temper the individual's greed for power and the electorates' desires for peace by submission to coercion or blandishment. "
David Mamet
Greed
Peace
Evil
" I hate vacations. There's nothing to do. "
David Mamet
Vacations
Hate
Nothing
" I was fortunate enough to have a rambling youth. "
David Mamet
Fortunate
Enough
Youth
" The so-called assault weapons ban is a hoax. It is a political appeal to the ignorant. The guns it supposedly banned have been illegal for 78 years. Did the ban make them 'more' illegal? The ban addresses only the appearance of weapons, not their operation. "
David Mamet
Ignorant
Guns
Appearance