Jerome Lawrence Quotes

It's always such a joy that you wake up in the morning and there's work to do.

Bert, whenever you see something bright, shining, perfect-seeming - all gold, with purple spots - look behind the paint! And if it's a lie - show it up for what it really is!

You don't suppose this kind of thing is ever finished, do you? Tomorrow it'll be something else-and another fella will have to stand up. And you've helped give him the guts to do it!

I hereby excommunicate you from the Milky Way!

The aftermath of the war is what inspired us to write many of our plays. The whole reason for our writing Inherit the Wind was that we were appalled at the blacklisting. We were appalled at thought control.

I say that you cannot administer a wicked law impartially. You can only destroy. You can only punish. I warn you that a wicked law, like cholera, destroys everyone it touches - its upholders as well as its defiers.

If you're going to make a musical, don't cartoon it from the play. Make it better than the play. Have a reason for making it sing.

In no instance is there to be a musical or opera of Inherit the Wind because it doesn't sing. It's an intellectual play.

All motion is relative. Maybe it's you who've moved away by standing still.

I think enthusiasm is the answer to passionate writing.

It would be nice if nobody ever had to make anybody do anything.

Time and space are awash here.

An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters.

A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air. A psychotic is the man who lives in it. A psychiatrist is the man who collects the rent.

All experience helps when you write.

A play is a passion.

When you lose the power to laugh, you lose your power to think straight.

Why? Because I refuse to erase a man's lifetime? I tell you Brady had the same right as Cates: the right to be wrong!

We must look hopeful.

A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away.

Is it possible to be overzealous, to destroy that which you hope to save-so that nothing is left but emptiness.

If my own brother challenged the faith of millions, I would oppose him.

Our only competition in the theater is boredom, because if I'm bored with a play, if I'm revolted by a play on stage, with the Broadway prices, especially today, I'm going to walk out and not come back and pay that price again.

It frightens me to imagine the state of learning in this world if everyone had your driving curiosity.

The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool. College examinations notwithstanding, it takes a very smart fella to say I don't know the answer!