Quotes by Tom Stoppard

About Tom Stoppard:

Sir Tom Stoppard is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He co-wrote the screenplays for Brazil, The Russia House, and Shakespeare in Love, and has received one Academy Award and four Tony Awards. Themes of human rights, censorship and political freedom pervade his work along with exploration of linguistics and philosophy. Stoppard has been a key playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Every exit is an entry somewhere else.

Tom Stoppard

I'm a playwright who gets involved in movies when I'm not writing a play.

Tom Stoppard

From principles is derived probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts.

Tom Stoppard

The truth of the matter is that I used to be much more - as it were - shy. Now I don't care!

Tom Stoppard

In the period before the arrival of Mrs. Thatcher, politics had been in such low esteem. Everything was so hedged, so mealy-mouthed. Then along came this woman who seemed to have no manners at all and said exactly what she thought. Everyone's eyes we...

Tom Stoppard

Atheism is a crutch for those who cannot bear the reality of God.

Tom Stoppard

If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter the chemistry of the moral matrix, then theater has a longer half-life.

Tom Stoppard

As Socrates so philosophically put it, since we don't know what death is, it is illogical to fear it.

Tom Stoppard

Septimus: There is nothing more to be said about sexual congress. Thomasina: Is it the same as love? Septimus: Oh no, it is much nicer than that.

Tom Stoppard

Real data is messy. ...It's all very noisy out there. Very hard to spot the tune. Like a piano in the next room, it's playing your song, but unfortunately it's out of whack, some of the strings are missing, and the pianist is tone deaf and drunk- I m...

Tom Stoppard

A man speaking sense to himself is no madder than a man speaking nonsense not to himself.

Tom Stoppard

Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.

Tom Stoppard

My work always tried to unite the true with the beautiful; but when I had to choose one or the other, I usually chose the beautiful.

Tom Stoppard

I don't look at my work in a critical or analytical way; I just don't think of myself objectively. It doesn't interest me.

Tom Stoppard

All of my scripts are based on other people's novels. Generally, I consider myself as one who writes for theatre. I do not see film work as a continuation of writing for theatre. It is more of an interruption of the writing process.

Tom Stoppard

If you don't know what is being said, the rest of the actor's work is wasted.

Tom Stoppard

If the audience is made to do not enough work, they resent it without knowing it. Too much and they get lost. There's a perfect pace to be found. And a perfect place that is different for every line of the play.

Tom Stoppard

The fact is that people are attracted to new work and by new work.

Tom Stoppard

Author Bio

  • NameTom Stoppard
  • DescriptionBritish playwright
  • BornJuly 3, 1937
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionPlaywright; Screenwriter; Journalist; Writer
  • AwardsLaurence Olivier Award; Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire; PEN Pinter Prize; Laurel Award For Screenwriting Achievement; Academy Award For Best Writing (Original Screenplay); Writers Guild Of America Award; Praemium Imperiale