53 Quotes by Konstantin Stanislavski

We have as many planes of speech as does a painting planes of perspective which create perspective in a phrase. The most important word stands out most vividly defined in the very foreground of the sound plane. Less important words create a series of deeper planes.

The main factor in any form of creativeness is the life of a human spirit, that of the actor and his part, their joint feelings and subconscious creation.

Don’t go so deep in yourself that you no longer exist for your partner and for the character and for the play.

I was born an ordinary actor. I will die an ordinary actor. But I’ve persisted.

In talking about a genius, you would not say that he lies; he sees realities with different eyes from ours.

Gratuitous cruelty borders on the pathological, psychotic and that becomes uninteresting because there is no choice.

It is not enough to discover the secret of a play, its thought and feelings – the actor must be able to convert them into living terms.

All art is autobiographical – if it’s not, it’s not going to quicken on-stage, and it’s not going to come alive.