Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness - the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.
Sean O'CaseyRead
The drama's altar isn't on the stage: it is candle-sticked and flowered in the box office. There is the gold, though there be no frankincense or myrrh; and the gospel for the day always The Play will Run for a Year. The Dove of Inspiration, of the desire for inspiration, has flown away from it; and on it's roof, now, the commonplace crow caws candidly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artistic success often relies more on commercial success than on creative inspiration.
In this quote, Sean O'Casey emphasizes that the true heart of theatrical success isn't found in the artistry presented on stage, but rather in the financial returns at the box office. He suggests that the drive for creativity is often overshadowed by the commercial aspects of theater, where the allure of profit can sometimes drown out genuine inspiration, leaving behind a mundane reality instead of the profound art that was intended.
Themes
TheaterArtInspirationSuccessCommerce
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the challenges of artistic integrity in commercial theater.
More from Sean O'Casey
All quotes →If church prelates, past or present, had even an inkling of physiology they'd realize that what they term this inner ugliness creates and nourishes the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the active mind, and energetic body of man and woman, in the same way that dirt and dung at the roots give the plant its delicate leaves and the full-blown rose.
Sean O'CaseyRead
Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, great as each may be, their highest comfort given to the sorrowful is a cordial introduction into another's woe. Sorrow's the great community in which all men born of woman are members at one time or another.
Sean O'CaseyRead
Wealth often takes away chances from men as well as poverty. There is none to tell the rich to go on striving, for a rich man makes the law that hallows and hollows his own life.
Sean O'CaseyRead
There's nothing so passionate as a vested interest disguised as an intellectual conviction.
Sean O'CaseyRead
Politics - I don't know why, but they seem to have a tendency to separate us, to keep us from one another, while nature is always and ever making efforts to bring us together.
Sean O'CaseyRead
Similar quotes
My plays are ultimately about love, honor, duty, betrayal.
August WilsonRead
Whosoever knoweth the power of the dance, dwelleth in God.
RumiRead
I consider writing practice a true Zen practice because it all comes back at you. You can't fool anyone because it's on the page.
Natalie GoldbergRead
The life of a writer is tragic: the more we advance, the farther there is to go and the more there is to say, the less time there is to say it.
Gabrielle RoyRead
Sometimes I feel as if I am read before I write. When I write a poem about my mother, Palestinians think my mother is a symbol for Palestine. But I write as a poet, and my mother is my mother. She's not a symbol.
Mahmoud DarwishRead
Art defies defeat by its very existence, representing the celebration of life, in spite of all attempts to degrade and destroy it.
Nadine GordimerRead