Quote by James Thurber

If a playwright tried to see eye to eye with everybody, he would get the worst case of strabismus since Hannibal lost an eye trying to count his nineteen elephants during a snowstorm while crossing the Alps.

If a playwright tried to see eye to eye with everybody, he w

Summary

This quote humorously implies that if a playwright tried to please or cater to every individual's preferences and opinions, they would end up in a similar predicament as Hannibal, who lost an eye due to the difficulty of counting his elephants during a challenging situation. It suggests that trying to please everyone is an impossible task and can lead to negative consequences, highlighting the importance of staying true to one's artistic vision and not compromising creative integrity.

Topics

Theater

By James Thurber

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Speeches (oratory)

My mom has always said that if I get a big head, she'll take

My mom has always said that if I get a big head, she'll take me out of this business as quickly as I got into it.

Mom

Historians will have to face the fact that natural selection

Historians will have to face the fact that natural selection determined the evolution of cultures in the same manner as it did that of species.

Evolution

Ah, when to the heart of man was it ever less than a treason

Ah, when to the heart of man was it ever less than a treason to go with the drift of things to yield with a grace to reason and bow and accept at the end of a love or a season.

Acceptance

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.

Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.

American Indian Proverb

Learning

Frankly, despite my horror of the press, I'd love to rise fr

Frankly, despite my horror of the press, I'd love to rise from the grave every ten years or so and go buy a few newspapers.

Love

I have found a flat on Merseyside and am settling down here.

I have found a flat on Merseyside and am settling down here. If I can keep playing and get back to full match fitness, I know I have a lot to offer still.

Fitness

I'm obsessed with radio. It's a good start to Sunday morning

I'm obsessed with radio. It's a good start to Sunday morning.

Morning

OUR history begins before we are born. We represent the here

OUR history begins before we are born. We represent the hereditary influences of our race, and our ancestors virtually live in us.

History

The decay of decency in the modern age, the rebellion agains

The decay of decency in the modern age, the rebellion against law and good faith, the treatment of human beings as things, as the mere instruments of power and ambition, is without a doubt the consequence of the decay of the belief in man as something more than an animal animated by highly conditioned reflexes and chemical reactions. For, unless man is something more than that, he has no rights that anyone is bound to respect, and there are no limitations upon his conduct which he is bound to obey.

Walter Lippmann

Man Mankind

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.

Peace Violence Revenge Ahimsa

It is the nature of ambition to make men liars and cheats, t

It is the nature of ambition to make men liars and cheats, to hide the truth in their breasts, and show, like jugglers, another thing in their mouths, to cut all friendships and enmities to the measure of their own interest, and to make a good countenance without the help of good will.

Deception/lying