360 Quotes by David Mamet

War is tragedy. The great war stories are tragedies. It’s the failure of diplomacy. ‘War and Peace,’ ‘A Farewell to Arms,’ ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls.’ Those are some of the greatest tragedies.

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.’

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.

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.

I’ve been alienating my public since I was 20 years old. When ‘American Buffalo’ came out on Broadway, people would storm out and say, ‘How dare he use that kind of language!’ Of course I’m alienating the public! That’s what they pay me for.

I hate vacations. There’s nothing to do.

How can I be secure? Through amassing wealth beyond all measure? No. And what’s beyond measure? That’s a sickness. That’s a trap. There is no measure. Only greed.

All drama is about lies. When the lie is exposed, the play is over.

Art is an expression of joy and awe. It is not an attempt to share one’s virtues and accomplishments with the audience, but an act of selfless spirit.