Beau Willimon Quotes
Biography
Author Profession: PlaywrightNationality: AmericanBorn: October 26, 1977
At home I mostly stick to online Scrabble, or chess or Risk – games I find far less addictive than the spectacular games created for consoles these days. But, whenever I get the chance, I head over to my friend Kyri’s house to play his PS3.
Beau Willimon
Home, Chance, Friend,
A lot of people have asked me whether I am a cynic or take a cynical view of politics and are often surprised when I say that I consider myself an optimist, but an optimist dressed in the robes of a realist.
Beau Willimon
Myself, Inspirational, Often,
The reality is that politicians, in terms of the amount of power they wield and the amount that they work, don’t actually make that much money.
Beau Willimon
Work, Money, Reality,
I was always a writer – working on campaigns was never a profession for me. It was something I did on the side, really, so the trajectory hasn’t been a political operative who likes to dabble in writing and finds himself into stumbling on film and TV – that was always my goal.
Beau Willimon
Never, Political, Always,
The political world is a dark place. If you want to portray it accurately, authentically, you’ve got to turn out the lights from time to time.
Beau Willimon
Time, World, Famous,
I certainly keep my eye on Washington all the time because often life is stranger than fiction.
Beau Willimon
Life, Stranger, Fiction,
Writing plays supplied for me everything that painting didn’t, which is the ability to tell stories in real time, in a real space, in three dimensions, in flesh and blood. I realized I had been trying to cram all this narrative into my paintings, but ultimately painting was a static medium. So it just opened up this whole new door.
Beau Willimon
Painting, New, Blood,
There were many years when I was hand-to-mouth and didn’t know how I was gonna make rent. I’ve done every job under the sun, from busing tables, temping, and working in factories to SAT prep and detailing cars. So to be able to make a living where all I do is write is absolutely liberating.
Beau Willimon
Sun, Know, Job, Done,
The press don’t wake up in the morning simply to be a mouthpiece for pols – they’re out to uncover and expose news. That often is at odds with what politicians are setting out to do – it’s both symbiotic and antagonistic. They need each other, they work in concert with one another, they work against one another.
Beau Willimon
Work, Morning, Wake Up,
Real leaders have to live a paradoxical life, where they must break the rules in order to maintain them. If your expectations are high, you’re setting yourself up for disillusionment. The land of governance is paved with gray streets, not black or white ones.
Beau Willimon
Yourself, Black, Motivational,
The way I see politics is, I don’t think it’s cynical to accept the fact politicians are human beings, that they’re flawed, and they represent the best and the worst of us.
Beau Willimon
Best, History, Way, Family
We all experience power struggles in our lives – at the workplace, with our friends, in our love lives. In a way, we’re all politicians.
Beau Willimon
Struggle, Love Life, Our Love
If you work hard and play by the rules, you’ll have a better life than your parents did, and your children will have a better life than you did.
Beau Willimon
Children, Hard Work, Play
In politics, it’s very theatrical. There’s a lot of stage craft. The campaign is trying to tell a story that they want people to believe in, and candidates are playing the role, like actors, by a creative personae that people will be attracted to.
Beau Willimon
Believe, People, Creative
My jobs on campaigns were pretty low on the totem pole – I was an advance man.
Beau Willimon
Jobs, Men, Campaigns
I don’t think that Washington is a fundamentally bad or corrupt place.
Beau Willimon
Thinking, Bad, Place,
When you’re creating new roles out of scratch in my opinion working with the actors is a great asset. You can learn a lot from that.
Beau Willimon
Creating, Scratches, Roles
In the best possible scenario, whenever you get notes from people, they’re good notes, and they see things that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and they make you a better writer.
Beau Willimon
People, Notes, Scenarios
At home I mostly stick to online Scrabble, or chess or Risk – games I find far less addictive than the spectacular games created for consoles these days. But, whenever I get the chance I head over to my friend Kyri’s house to play his PS3.
Beau Willimon
Home, Games, Play
You just have to re-wire your brain when you’re shifting from the stage to the screen, or the silver screen or the HD flat screen.
Beau Willimon
Brain, Wire, Shifting
