Edward Albee Quotes

American playwright (1928–2016)

Edward Albee (March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright, known for works including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Zoo Story, The Sandbox and The American Dream.

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Birth Name: Edward Franklin Albee

Alternative Names: Edward Franklin Albee III

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Knowing it — knowing it's true is one thing, but believing what you know... well, there's the tough part.

You want to dance with me, angel tits?

Dashed hopes and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested.

Sometimes a person has to go a very long distance out of his way to come back a short distance correctly.

What could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing you hadn't lived it

ROSS I hear a kind of … rushing sound, like a … wooooosh!, or … wings, or something. MARTIN It’s probably the Eumenides.

People like theater that is safe, generally speaking — things that are easy, that are not too deeply troubling. In other words, people want to go to the theater and waste their time.

There's no limit to you, is there?

I have been both overpraised and underpraised. I assume by the time I finish writing — and I plan to go on writing until I'm 90 or gaga — it will all equal itself out... You can't involve yourself with the vicissitudes of fashion or critical response. I'm fairly confident that my work is going to be around for a while. I am pleased and reassured by the fact that a lot of younger playwrights seem to pay me some attention and gain some nourishment from what I do.

If you have no wounds, how can you know if you're alive?

The world is a zoo

Addiction is a repeated temporary...stilling. I am concerned with peace...not mere relief.

If you spend a hundred bucks, or more, to go to the theatre, something should happen to you. Maybe somebody should be asking you some questions about your values, or about the way you think about things. Maybe you should come out of the theatre, something haven happened to you. Maybe you should be changing, or thinking about changing. But if you just go there, and the only thing you worry about is where you left the damn car, then you wasted a hundred bucks.

Now, here is what I had wanted to happen: I had tried to love, and I had tried to kill, and both had been unsuccessful by themselves.

To all of you who have made my being alive so wonderful, so exciting and so full, my thanks and all my love.