Terrence Mcnally Inspirational Quotes (7)

Write plays that matter. Raise the stakes. Shout, yell, holler, but make yourself heard. It's time for playwrights to reclaim the theatre. We do that by speaking from the heart about the things that matter most to us. If a play isn't worth dying for, maybe it isn't worth writing.

I like to surprise myself. I've always been attracted to projects where I don't know how they're going to turn out.

I'm of the school 'Write what you know.' You can educate yourself, but the best writing usually comes from the heart.

I've had wonderful collaborators. They're very different, just as actors are. Working on a show with Nathan Lane is different from working on a show with Chita Rivera. It keeps you on your toes because it's different every time.

Cheating is not the American way. It is small, while we are large. It is cheap, while we are richly endowed. It is destructive, while we are creative. It is doomed to fail, while our gifts and responsibilities call us to achieve. It sabotages trust and weakens the bonds of spirit and humanity, without which we perish.

In those days, you had to like one or the other. You couldn't like Sutherland AND Callas.

There are so many rules about play writing. I'd have a nervous breakdown if I followed them.