David Levithan Quotes

I'm convinced to do improv. All you have to do is listen to what people are saying to you, and then just add more information to what they've just said. That's all there is to improv, but it's the hardest thing to do.

Talking is the disease of age.

The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting.

What I think improv is great for is making dialogue more natural.

When I'm interviewing somebody I don't work from prepared questions.

The lifelong goal of an improviser is to listen to what the other person is saying, taking it in, and responding.

Improvising political dialogue is not easy.

I wanted when we began this to have a conversation, the kind that you're able to have, and the only way I knew how to do it was not to have a pre-interview.

I like talking. I like acting.

Talking to people is not giving them anything.

Whom we wish to talk to is as important as what we say.

I liked being able to speak to somebody and throw it back and forth, and they can't predict what you're going to say next.

That's what music-making is: a dialogue.

'Dialogue' is not a dirty word; it's our word.

Conversation is a really good way to get things done.

With everything, 'Shooting Stars' included, we'll just have some words on a card to prompt us - 'How would Rod Stewart die,' that kind of thing - and we'll just run with that idea, as if we were talking to each other, messing around. And I'm no scholar of these things, but I think that's what double acts should do, isn't it?

Years ago, I tried to top everybody, but I don't anymore. I realized it was killing conversation. When you're always trying for a topper you aren't really listening. It ruins communication

For me, improvisation is about working with a partner. That is much easier to do in the interview, because you have a sounding board.

One must talk. That's how it is. One must.

Language exists only when it is listened to as well as spoken. The hearer is an indispensable partner.

...every monologue sooner or later becomes a discussion.

Speaking is a beautiful folly; with that man dances over all things.

I've always liked the idea of improvised music. Improvised anything. It's what conversation is.

Most of the time, communication gets confused with conversation. In fact, the two are distinctly different.

Other than conversation, no other art form can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction like Jazz.