Wendy Wasserstein Quotes

People want you to be ordinary. They don't like it when people are different. They don't like it when a man soars over their heads while they stand in the dirt. People hate you when you're special; it reminds them of everything that they aren't.

Judi Dench should be ashamed of herself for being so talented and working so much.

People hate me because I am a multifaceted, talented, wealthy, internationally famous genius.

I felt like there were so many talented people who should be getting what I have.

I was never jealous of my best friend. But I was envious of his talent. I had achieved my ambition of being in a band and playing live and I wanted him to go on and realize his talent as much as he did.

When you're good at something, there's always someone to spit on you.

Maybe I'm just flying my own little ego ship, but sometimes people resent talent.

The lesson here is very simple. But it is striking how often it is overlooked. We are so caught in the myths of the best and the brightest and the self-made that we think outliers spring naturally from the earth. We look at the young Bill Gates and marvel that our world allowed that thirteen-year-old to become a fabulously successful entrepreneur. But that's the wrong lesson. Our world only allowed one thirteen-year-old unlimited access to a time sharing terminal in 1968. If a million teenagers had been given the same opportunity, how many more Microsofts would we have today?

In my mind jealousy would come with seeing people do something that makes it all look extremely easy when it's not, like artists who can draw better than I can. In college, I was different. I was so hungry that anyone else who was published - I couldn't deal with it.

How about those people who don't need sleep? What are they called again? Successful? What a bunch of dicks they are.

The craving for equality can express itself either as a desire to pull everyone down to our own level (by belittling them, excluding them, tripping them up) or as a desire to raise ourselves up along with everyone else (by acknowledging them, helping them, and rejoicing in their success).

Everything that I have ever hoped to accomplish, she has done and done better than anyone I have ever seen.

The higher you ascend, the smaller you appear to the eye of envy. But most of all they hate those who fly.

The mark of extraordinary merit is to see those most envious of it constrained to praise.

Look at the attention the Godfather's getting! Kick my leg, J.R.; kick me in the leg!

There are probably guys who could be superstars but aren't because they didn't work at it.

and god help you if you are an ugly girl course too pretty is also your doom cause everyone harbors a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room and god help you if you are a pheonix and you dare to rise up from the ash a thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy while you are just flying back

Love. Be curious. Always try to do your best.

I think Americans love success - but hate the people who have it.

Whoever rises above those who once pleased themselves with equality, will have many malevolent gazers at his eminence.

The majority of people pull for the underdog. Heck, even your friends don't like you to be too successful. We've lost enough over the years for me to maintain my friendships.

People residing within the cult of average don’t like to see others rise. It threatens their security, and spotlights their low self-worth. Go for great, no matter what they say.

Jealousy is such a direct attack on whatever measure of confidence you’ve been able to muster. But if you continue to write, you are probably going to have to deal with it, because some wonderful, dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry, undeserving writers you know-people who are, in other words, not you.

You can't stand to see your neighbor getting rich. You know you're smarter than he is and he's doing these things and he's getting rich.

Prosperity makes some friends and many enemies.