19+ John Patrick Shanley Quotes On Friendship, Writing And Patrick John

John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt: A Parable and the Oscar-winning film Moonstruck. He has also written and directed several other films, including Joe Versus the Volcano and Live from Baghdad. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John Patrick Shanley on friendship, life, writing.

Theatre is the safe place to do the unsafe things that need to be done. — John Patrick Shanley

If I could, Sister James, I would certainly choose to live in innocence. But innocence can only be wisdom in a world without evil. Situations arise and we are confronted with wrongdoing and the need to act. — John Patrick Shanley

Monogamy is like a 40-watt bulb. It works, but its not enough. — John Patrick Shanley

All plays stem from personal experience. I was reading psychoanalytic lit for a couple of years, obsessively, in depth, and I got involved in analyzing everyone around me. . . . Eventually, all my friends' eyes began to glaze over when I started talking this way, and I got the hint that there might be something comical in it. — John Patrick Shanley

If you put someone in a room with no script to direct, they're just going to sit there. Writing scripts is the execution for a show. Then the director takes that and hires people. It's like trying to build a house without any bricks. — John Patrick Shanley

Trying to lead an interesting life, a fruitful life, is a big challenge. — John Patrick Shanley

I have doubts! I have such doubts! — John Patrick Shanley

Where the terror is, you must go. — John Patrick Shanley

I'd like to thank everybody who ever punched or kissed me in my life and everybody who I ever punched or kissed. — John Patrick Shanley

I think that certainty is a closed door, It's the end of the conversation. Doubt is an open door. — John Patrick Shanley

Everything is painful, so why not be honest about the pain? — John Patrick Shanley

When I write a screenplay - and I think this is true for a lot of people - you direct the movie. Thats what writing a screenplay is. — John Patrick Shanley

dear god, whose name i do not know. thank you for my life. i forgot... how BIG... thank you. thank you for my life. — John Patrick Shanley

People ask me if I believe in things: in God, in astrology, and I say, absolutely! I believe in everything! And I believe in its opposite. Like the positive and negative volts on a battery, you need both for power. — John Patrick Shanley

Whatever you do in terms of telling a story, the most important thing that you can define is who you are. — John Patrick Shanley

Choose Life over the other stuff. Get out of your head. Live. Dress up. Eat. Touch people. Help out. Give up. Love people. Give your best away. There’s more. What’s the problem? Relax. You’re going to die. Throw a party. Eat off my plate. Sing to me. Meet me in the bedroom. Get a massage. Give one. Let your amazement out into the room. Pry open the box you hide your joy in. Be a poem. — John Patrick Shanley

Doubt requires more courage than conviction does, and more energy; because conviction is a resting place and doubt is infinite – it is a passionate exercise. You may come out of my play uncertain. You may want to be sure. Look down on that feeling. We’ve got to learn to live with a full measure of uncertainty. There is no last word. That’s the silence under the chatter of our time. — John Patrick Shanley

There are people who...tell you that the light in your heart is a weakness. Don't believe it! It's an old tactic of cruel people to kill kindness in the name of virtue. — John Patrick Shanley

I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in yourself, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap. — John Patrick Shanley

Life Lessons by John Patrick Shanley

1. John Patrick Shanley's work emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexities of human relationships and how they can be affected by our own preconceptions and biases.
2. His plays often explore themes of morality and justice, and how our decisions can have far-reaching consequences.
3. Through his work, Shanley encourages us to think critically about our own beliefs and how they can shape our interactions with others.