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David Mamet Quotes

David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and film director. As a playwright, Mamet has won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross and Speed-the-Plow . Mamet first gained acclaim for a trio of off-Broadway plays in 1976, The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and American Buffalo. His play Race opened on Broadway on December 6, 2009, and his play The Penitent previewed off-Broadway on February 8, 2017.

Mamet's books include: The Old Religion , a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy , a Torah commentary with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son , a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; Bambi vs. Godzilla, a commentary on the movie business; The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture , a commentary on cultural and political issues; and Three War Stories , a trio of novellas about the physical and psychological effects of war.

Feature films that Mamet both wrote and directed include Redbelt , The Spanish Prisoner , House of Games , Spartan , Heist , State and Main , The Winslow Boy , and Oleanna . This was accompanied by Homicide , Things Change , and most recently the 2013 HBO film Phil Spector, starring Al Pacino as Spector with Helen Mirren and Jeffrey Tambor. His drama Glengarry Glen Ross, in 1992, was adapted by Mamet into a film version which also received an Academy Award nomination.

Mamet wrote the screenplays for The Verdict , directed by Sidney Lumet, The Postman Always Rings Twice , directed by Bob Rafelson, The Untouchables directed by Brian De Palma, Hoffa , Ronin , Wag the Dog , The Edge , and Hannibal . Mamet was also the executive producer and frequent writer for the TV show The Unit. As a screenplay writer, Mamet received Oscar nominations for The Verdict and Wag the Dog.

David Mamet also studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.

✵ 30. November 1947
David Mamet photo

Works

Glengarry Glen Ross
Boston Marriage
Boston Marriage
David Mamet
Edmond
David Mamet
Glengarry Glen Ross
Boston Marriage
Boston Marriage
David Mamet
Edmond
David Mamet
David Mamet: 28 quotes31 likes

Famous David Mamet Quotes

“It’s not a lie. It’s a gift for fiction.”

David Mamet

“You are a shithead, Williamson. If you can't think on your feet you oughta keep your mouth shut.”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Shelley Levene

“The goal of the Left is a government-run country and that of the Right the freedom of the individual from government. Page 236.”

David Mamet

The Secret Knowledge

“It's only words… unless they're true.”

David Mamet

“We all hope. It's what keeps us alive.”

David Mamet

David Mamet Quotes

“Always tell the truth. It's the easiest thing to remember.”

David Mamet

“Every scene should be able to answer three questions: "Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don't get it? Why now?”

David Mamet

Source: Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business

“Every fear hides a wish.”

David Mamet Edmond

Source: Edmond

“Invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school.”

David Mamet

Source: True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor

“We live in oppressive times. We have, as a nation, become our own thought police; but instead of calling the process by which we limit our expression of dissent and wonder ‘censorship,’ we call it ‘concern for commercial viability.”

David Mamet

“Anybody that talks to this asshole is a fuckin' asshole.”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Dave Moss

“Yes, well that's very cute, but you're running this office like a bunch of bullshit.”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Dave Moss

“My alma mater is the Chicago Public Library.”

David Mamet

Chicago Public Library Foundation, 2007-12-20 http://www.chicagopubliclibraryfoundation.org/,

“You ever take a dump, made you feel you'd just slept for twelve hours?”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Richard Roma

“The art of the theater is action. It is the study of commitment. The word is an act. To SAY the word in such a way as to make it heard and understood by all in the theater is a commitment — it is the highest art to see a human being out on a stage speaking to a thousand of his or her peers saying, 'These words which I am speaking are the TRUTH — they are not an approximation of any kind. They are the God's truth, and I support them with my life,' which is what the actor does on stage.”

David Mamet

Writing in Restaurants (1987)

“Where have you been, Shelly? Bruce and Harriet Nyborg. Do you want to see the memos…? They're nuts… they used to call in every week […] Did you see how they were living? […] The people are insane. They just like talking to salesmen.”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), John Williamson

“The good causes of the Left may generally be compared to NASCAR; they offer the diversion of watching things go excitingly around in a circle, getting nowhere. Page 11.”

David Mamet

The Secret Knowledge

“Or me lying in the… Let me tell ya… Lying in bed the next day, she brought me cafe au lait, she gives me a cigarette. My balls feel like concrete. Eh?”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Richard Roma

“Before you can steal fire from the Gods you gotta be able to get coffee for the director”

David Mamet

Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business (2007)

“A society can neither advance nor improve without excess of disposable income. This excess can only be amassed through the productions of goods and services necessary or attractive to the mass. A financial system which allows this leads to inequality; one that does not leads to mass starvation. Page 10.”

David Mamet

The Secret Knowledge

“Well, to the law, you’re an accessory. Before the fact.”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Dave Moss

“[T]he job of mass entertainment is to cajole, seduce and flatter consumers to let them know that what they thought was right is right, and that their tastes and their immediate gratification are of the utmost concern of the purveyor. The job of the artist, on the other hand, is to say, wait a second, to the contrary, everything that we have thought is wrong. Let's reexamine it.”

David Mamet

Inteview by Richard Covington, Salon, October 25, 1997, 2013-06-17 http://www.upstartfilmcollective.com/portfolios/jcharnick/mamet-museum/salon-interview.html,

“We don't have to worry about making it interesting; all we have to worry about is getting rid of the pig.”

David Mamet book Three Uses of the Knife

Three Uses of the Knife (1996)

“A man should BE his job. You are FUCKED at yours.”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Shelley Levene

“Get the chalk! Get the fucking chalk! Put me on the board! Put me on the Cadillac board! Williamson! Pick up the fucking chalk! Hey, Rick I closed em! I closed the cocksucker!”

David Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross (1993), Shelley Levene

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