Creative Debate Quotes

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you.

We have to see conflict as thinking and then get really good at it.

The worst thing you can do to a filmmaker is to walk out of his film and go, 'That was a nice movie.' But if you can cause people to walk out and then argue about the film on the sidewalk... I think we're all seeking dissension, and we love to affect an audience.

Yes, 85 percent of the art you see isn't any good. But everyone has a different opinion about which 85 percent is bad. That in turn creates fantastically unstable interplay and argument.

I love to argue and share bright ideas in a rehearsal room, and when you live with somebody who is working on the same show, the delight can go on all evening!

Good directors don't answer questions with their work. They generate debate and create discussion.

Three writers together would be a nightmare of obstreperous self-consciousness.

If you and I always agree, then one of us is redundant.

I think respectful conflict is intrinsic to the spirit of literature. It reminds us that literary history is living and evolving and thrives on us being active participants.