Jerome Lawrence Quotes & Sayings

A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away. — Jerome Lawrence

Thou shalt not steal the shekels of thine audience with a play which doth not let them know what the hell goeth on. — Jerome Lawrence

He weighs the volume in his hand; this one has been the center of the whirlwind. Then DRUMMOND notices the Bible on the JUDGE's bench. He picks up the Bible in his other hand; he looks from one volume to the other, balancing them thoughtfully, as if his hands were scales. He half-smiles, half-shrugs. Then DRUMMOND slaps the two books together and jams them in his brief case, side by side. Slowly, he climbs to the street level and crosses the empty square. — Jerome Lawrence

Is it possible to be overzealous, to destroy that which you hope to save-so that nothing is left but emptiness. — Jerome Lawrence

It would be nice if nobody ever had to make anybody do anything. — Jerome Lawrence

Our only competition in the theater is boredom, because if I'm bored with a play, if I'm revolted by a play on stage, with the Broadway prices, especially today, I'm going to walk out and not come back and pay that price again. — Jerome Lawrence

Time and space are awash here. — Jerome Lawrence

Darwin was wrong. Man's still an ape — Jerome Lawrence

I say that you cannot administer a wicked law impartially. You can only destroy. You can only punish. I warn you that a wicked law, like cholera, destroys everyone it touches - its upholders as well as its defiers. — Jerome Lawrence

A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air. A psychotic is the man who lives in it. A psychiatrist is the man who collects the rent. — Jerome Lawrence

A play is a passion. — Jerome Lawrence

All motion is relative. Maybe it's you who've moved away by standing still. — Jerome Lawrence

All experience helps when you write. — Jerome Lawrence

It frightens me to imagine the state of learning in this world if everyone had your driving curiosity. — Jerome Lawrence

Buy a Bible!Your guide to eternal life! — Jerome Lawrence

You must not demand the failure of your peers, because the more good things that are around in film, in television, in theater - why the better it is for all of us. — Jerome Lawrence

It snows. So I don't even have to go to the pond for fresh water - just reach out the door for a handful of snow. Melt it, and it's sweet as the sky. — Jerome Lawrence

We must look hopeful. — Jerome Lawrence

Cynical? Thats my fascination. I do hateful things, for which people love me, And lovable things for which they hate me. I am a friend of enemies, the enemy of friends; I am admired for my detestability. I am both Poles and the Equator, with no Temperate Zones between. — Jerome Lawrence

If the enemy sends it's Goliath into battle, it magnifies our cause. — Jerome Lawrence

Bert, whenever you see something bright, shining, perfect-seeming - all gold, with purple spots - look behind the paint! And if it's a lie - show it up for what it really is! — Jerome Lawrence

Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind
-Henry Drummond, a character in Inherit The Wind — Jerome Lawrence

In no instance is there to be a musical or opera of Inherit the Wind because it doesn't sing. It's an intellectual play. — Jerome Lawrence

The whole point of writing is to have something in your gut or in your soul or in your mind that's burning to be written. — Jerome Lawrence

Don't have any opinions. They're bad for business. — Jerome Lawrence

Fanaticism and Ignorance is forever busy and needs feeding. — Jerome Lawrence

An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters. — Jerome Lawrence

The aftermath of the war is what inspired us to write many of our plays. The whole reason for our writing Inherit the Wind was that we were appalled at the blacklisting. We were appalled at thought control. — Jerome Lawrence

Why? Because I refuse to erase a man's lifetime? I tell you Brady had the same right as Cates: the right to be wrong! — Jerome Lawrence

When you loose your power to laugh, you loose your power to think straight. — Jerome Lawrence

If you're going to make a musical, don't cartoon it from the play. Make it better than the play. Have a reason for making it sing. — Jerome Lawrence

It's always such a joy that you wake up in the morning and there's work to do. — Jerome Lawrence

The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool. College examinations notwithstanding, it takes a very smart fella to say I don't know the answer! — Jerome Lawrence

If my own brother challenged the faith of millions, I would oppose him. — Jerome Lawrence

I hereby excommunicate you from the Milky Way! — Jerome Lawrence

I think enthusiasm is the answer to passionate writing. — Jerome Lawrence

Hot dog? Bible? Now that poses a problem! Which is hungrier-my stomach or my soul? — Jerome Lawrence

You don't suppose this kind of thing is ever finished, do you? Tomorrow it'll be something else-and another fella will have to stand up. And you've helped give him the guts to do it! — Jerome Lawrence

When you lose the power to laugh, you lose your power to think straight. — Jerome Lawrence