Sir David Hare

“The first thing you have to do is get up and do it, and the second thing you have to do is not be afraid to be a fool.”

“Theatre is the art of the present tense.”

“Any country that has tried to create a classless society has done it by creating a new elite.”

“The powerful are always lied to.”

“To be a writer is to be a spy. It is to be a watcher, a listener, an eavesdropper.”

“The job of the artist is to be a witness.”

“The great secret of a successful play is that the audience is two steps ahead of the characters but two steps behind the author.”

“The human condition is such that we can't be happy all the time. But we can be engaged.”

“I don't think you can write a good play unless you have a real, burning desire to say something.”

“Art is not a democracy. It is a monarchy.”

“Satire is the greatest weapon of the powerless.”

“In my experience, the best creative work is never done when one is unhappy.”

“The danger of political writing is that you can be so angry that you can't be funny.”