166 Quotes by Robert McKee

Politics is the name we give to the orchestration of power in any society.

A fine work of art - music, dance, painting, story - has the power to silence the chatter in the mind and lift us to another place.

In a world of lies and liars, an honest work of art is always an act of social responsibility.

We realize we can't go around saying and doing what we're actually thinking and feeling. If we all did that, life would be a lunatic asylum. Indeed, that's how you know you're talking to a lunatic. Lunatics are those poor souls who have lost their inner communication and so they allow themselves to say and do exactly what they are thinking and feeling and that's why they're mad.

Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world.

If the story you're telling, is the story you're telling, you're in deep shit.

When we want mood experiences, we go to concerts or museums. When we want meaningful emotional experience, we go to the storyteller.

When talented people write badly, it's generally for one of two reasons: Either they're blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove of they're driven by an emotion they must express. When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason: They're moved by a desire to touch the audience.

All writing is discipline, but screenwriting is a drill sergeant.