American - Dramatist | November 30, 1947 -
The essence of jiu-jitsu is philosophy.
David Mamet
PhilosophyEssence
My definition of a 'friend' is, coming from Chicago, someone who says, 'Yeah, sure. You know what? Let's talk about what we can talk about. Let's help each other out. Your politics are none of my business.'
FriendBusinessPoliticsHelpYou
The liberals in my neighbourhood wouldn't give away Brentwood to the Palestinians, but they want to give away Tel Aviv.
WantAwayGiveLiberalsPalestinians
A play is basically a long, formalistic polemic. You can write it without the poetry, and if you do, you may have a pretty good play. We know this because we see plays in translation. Not many people speak Norwegian or Danish or whatever guys like Ibsen spoke, or Russian - yet we understand Chekhov and the others.
GoodPoetryPeopleSpeakYouPlay
Liberalism is a religion. Its tenets cannot be proved, its capacity for waste and destruction demonstrated. But it affords a feeling of spiritual rectitude at little or no cost.
ReligionSpiritualFeelingCost
I hate vacations. There's nothing to do.
HateNothingVacations
Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.
DramaOriginalAmusementCarnival
I always thought the real violence in Hollywood isn't what's on the screen. It's what you have to do to raise the money.
MoneyThoughtViolenceYouHollywood
In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us.
WorldFindUsTerrifyingThreaten
We respond to a drama to that extent to which it corresponds to our dreamlife.
DramaRespondOurWhichExtent
Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups who question that status.
PeaceDeathCherishQuestionBeat
Our job, as writers is to do our jobs.
JobOurJobsWriters
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