David Mamet Quote
My generation has a giddy delight in dissolution. [...] To inspire theunsophisticated young to demand change is an easy and a cheap trick— it was the tactic of the Communist Internationale in the thirties, another movement.[...] We were self-taught in the sixties to award ourselves merit for membership in a superior group–irrespective of ourgroup’s accomplishments. We continue to do so, irrespective of accomplishments, individual or communal, having told each other we were special. We learned that all one need do is refrain from trustinganybody over thirty; that all people are alike, and to judge their behavior was judgmental; that property is theft. As we did not investigate these assertions or their implications, we could not actupon them and felt no need to do so. For we were the culmination of history, superior to all those misguided who had come before, which is to say all humanity. Though we had never met a payroll, fought for an education, obsessed about the rent, raised a child, carried a weapon for our country, or searched for work. Though we had never been in sufficient distress to call upon God, we indicted those who had. And continue to do so.
My generation has a giddy delight in dissolution. [...] To inspire theunsophisticated young to demand change is an easy and a cheap trick— it was the tactic of the Communist Internationale in the thirties, another movement.[...] We were self-taught in the sixties to award ourselves merit for membership in a superior group–irrespective of ourgroup’s accomplishments. We continue to do so, irrespective of accomplishments, individual or communal, having told each other we were special. We learned that all one need do is refrain from trustinganybody over thirty; that all people are alike, and to judge their behavior was judgmental; that property is theft. As we did not investigate these assertions or their implications, we could not actupon them and felt no need to do so. For we were the culmination of history, superior to all those misguided who had come before, which is to say all humanity. Though we had never met a payroll, fought for an education, obsessed about the rent, raised a child, carried a weapon for our country, or searched for work. Though we had never been in sufficient distress to call upon God, we indicted those who had. And continue to do so.
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About David Mamet
Feature films that Mamet both wrote and directed include House of Games (1987), Homicide (1991), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), and his biggest commercial success, Heist (2001). His screenwriting credits include The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), The Verdict (1982), The Untouchables (1987), Hoffa (1992), Wag the Dog (1997), and Hannibal (2001). Mamet himself wrote the screenplay for the 1992 adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross, and wrote and directed the 1994 adaptation of his play Oleanna (1992). He created and produced the CBS series The Unit (2006–2009).
Mamet's books include: On Directing Film (1991), a commentary and dialogue about film-making; The Old Religion (1997), a novel about the lynching of Leo Frank; Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (2004), a Torah commentary with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner; The Wicked Son (2006), a study of Jewish self-hatred and antisemitism; Bambi vs. Godzilla, a commentary on the movie business; The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture (2011), a commentary on cultural and political issues; Three War Stories (2013), a trio of novellas about the physical and psychological effects of war; and Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic, and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood (2023), an autobiographical account of his experiences in Hollywood.