David Mamet Short Quotes

25 Sourced Quotes

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Who ever told you that you could work with men?

David Mamet
The greater the intellect, the more ease in its misdirection.

David Mamet
Anyone ever lost in the wild knows that nature wants you dead.

David Mamet
Almost all movie scripts contain material that cannot be filmed.

David Mamet
We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.

David Mamet
It is the objective of the protagonist that keeps us in our seats.

David Mamet
A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue.

David Mamet
The images in a dream are vastly varied and magnificently interesting.

David Mamet
In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us.

David Mamet
The audience perceives only what the actor wants to do to the other actor.

David Mamet
Marijuana, for example, won't help one determine the correct aspect ratio...

David Mamet
When we fear things I think that we wish for them... every fear hides a wish

David Mamet
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.

David Mamet
As long as the protagonist wants something, the audience will want something.

David Mamet
We respond to a drama to that extent to which it corresponds to our dreamlife.

David Mamet
The work of the director is the work of constructing the shot list from the script.

David Mamet
Here is a sovereign talisman against regret: never do that which might engender it.

David Mamet
The dream and the film are the juxtaposition of images in order to answer a question.

David Mamet
The court doesn't exist to give them justice … But to give them a chance for justice.

David Mamet
All fears are one fear. Just the fear of death. And we accept it, then we are at peace.

David Mamet
Storytelling is like sex. We all do it naturally. Some of us are better at it than others.

David Mamet
The avant-garde is to the left what jingoism is to the right. Both are a refuge in nonsense.

David Mamet
Make the audience wonder what's going on by putting them in the same position as the protagonist.

David Mamet
The great movie can be as free of being a record of the progress of the protagonist as is a dream.

David Mamet
What we're trying to do is find two or more shots the juxtaposition of which will give us the idea.

David Mamet
It's called a confidence game. Why? Because you give me your confidence? No. Because I give you mine.

David Mamet
The Israelis would like to live in peace within their borders; the Arabs would like to kill them all.

David Mamet
The actor does not need to become the character. There is no character. There are only lines on a page.

David Mamet
First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado.. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.

David Mamet
I've always been more comfortable sinking while clutching a good theory than swimming with an ugly fact.

David Mamet