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" There's something in me that just wants to create dialogue. "
David Mamet
Something
Me
Dialogue
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" The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent. "
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Heaven
Fly
Science
" I love working on a typewriter - the rhythm, the sound; it's like playing the piano, which I do, too. "
David Mamet
Sound
Love
Too
" My tendency as an actor was to correct people, was to say, 'What if we tried it this way, what about if we tried that way?' That's terrible habit for an actor, but that's a good habit for director. So I became a director. "
David Mamet
Say
Way
Habit
" In Chicago, we love our crooks! "
David Mamet
Crooks
Love
Our
" 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 not an ascetic. "
David Mamet
Ascetic
" 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
" It's only words... unless they're true. "
David Mamet
Words
Only
True
" It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs. "
David Mamet
Constitutional
Determine
Government
" If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm all criminals, and let them accidentally shoot themselves? Is this absurd? Yes, and yet the government, of course, is arming criminals. "
David Mamet
Potential
Yes
Dangerous
" 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 product of the artist has become less important than the fact of the artist. We wish to absorb this person. We wish to devour someone who has experienced the tragic. In our society this person is much more important than anything he might create. "
David Mamet
Artist
Important
Society
" The essence of jiu-jitsu is philosophy. "
David Mamet
Philosophy
Essence
" 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
" It's hard to write a good plot, it's very hard. "
David Mamet
Very
Hard
Good
" My definition of a 'friend' is, coming from Chicago, someone who says, 'Yeah, sure. You know what? Let's talk about what we can talk about. Let's help each other out. Your politics are none of my business.' "
David Mamet
Know
Business
Friend
" My greatest fear is that the audience will beat me to the punch line. "
David Mamet
Punch
Line
Fear
" I know very well what it is to be out of work and to be cheated by employers and I know what it is to be an employer. "
David Mamet
Out
Work
Well
" I'm entitled to my political opinions, and I get to vote because I'm an American. "
David Mamet
Political
American
Get
" 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
" 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
" I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind. "
David Mamet
Mind
View
Liberal
" I like Bach. I like Randy Newman. "
David Mamet
Randy
Bach
Newman
" Our job, as writers is to do our jobs. "
David Mamet
Job
Writers
Our
" Here's what happens in a play. You get involved in a situation where something is unbalanced. If nothing's unbalanced, there's no reason to have a play. If Hamlet comes home from school, and his dad's not dead and asks him if he's had a good time, it's boring. But if something's unbalanced, it must be returned to order. "
David Mamet
Good
Time
Situation
" Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit. "
David Mamet
Spirit
Matters
Nothing
" I was fortunate enough to have a rambling youth. "
David Mamet
Fortunate
Enough
Youth
" Conservatives believe in smaller government and in the power of the electorate. So I think that we're less likely to try to use a dramatic forum to warp people's political views. "
David Mamet
People
Government
Think
" 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