130 Quotes by Wallace Shawn

I think the whole system of education would change if I were in charge and had the ability to make changes. I don't think I would keep Princeton exactly being Princeton.

For some reason, people find me funny. It's quite hard to define why a thought is funny. It's even harder to define why a person would be funny. It's a word that I can't define at all. But whether I know quite what it is or not, I seem to be it.

Who says one instance of writing has anything in common with another instance?

It's obviously a characteristic of human beings that we like to feel superior to others, but our problem is we are not superior

For me, a play is a form of writing which isn't complete until it is interpreted by actors. But it's still a form of writing. And so most of my time is spent thinking about how to write a sentence.

I know that I am one and I’ve made a living as an actor and I enjoy being an actor, but when I’m not actually doing it, I forget that I do it.

As writers, we can’t predict who might come along who might find our offerings valuable.

My style as a human being is to indulge people who need to escape, yet I insist on confronting them as a playwright. It’s quite embarrassing, it’s quite unpleasant, it’s quite awkward.

It’s obviously a characteristic of human beings that we like to feel superior to others, but our problem is we are not superior.