David Mamet Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old David Mamet quotes, David Mamet sayings, and David Mamet proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us. David Mamet
The basis of drama is... the struggle of the hero towards a specific goal at the end of which he realises that what kept him from it was, in the lesser drama, civilisation and, in the great drama, the discovery of something that he did not set out to discover but which can be seen retrospectively as inevitable. David Mamet
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. David Mamet
The theatre is traditionally where people go to hear the truth. David Mamet
Always tell the truth - it's the easiest thing to remember David Mamet
I know very well what it is to be out of work and to be cheated by employers and I know what it is to be an employer. David Mamet
Train yourself for a profession that does not exist. David Mamet
Poker reveals to the frank observer something else of import it will teach him about his own nature. Many bad players do not improve because the cannot bear self-knowledge. David Mamet
I'm afraid of only two things: being lazy and being cowardly. David Mamet
In a restaurant one is both observed and unobserved. Joy and sorrow can be displayed and observed "unwittingly," the writer scowling naively and the diners wondering, What the hell is he doing? David Mamet
In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us. David Mamet
We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie. David Mamet
The first amendment ensures not that speech will be fair, but that it will be free. It cannot be both. David Mamet
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit David Mamet
Friendship is friendship, a wonderful thing, and I'm all for it. You know me on this point! David Mamet
We respond to a drama to that extent to which it corresponds to our dream life. David Mamet
Drama has to do with circumstance, tragedy has to do with individual choice. David Mamet
I grew up in a tough neighborhood and we used to say you can get further with a kind word and a gun than just a kind word. David Mamet
Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. David Mamet
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