David Mamet Quotes

Ninety-eight per cent of all human communication is non-verbal.

To a guy like me, a laugh is full of information.

Gossip. The more you talk about why people do things, the more ideas you have about how the world works.

There's something about studying body language and non-spoken emotion - I know the innate response. But to really study it like a science would be fun.

If somebody would come and they're not playing music, they would encounter certain people on another level.

The moment one accosts a stranger or is accosted by him is above all in this life the moment of drama... Whoever we meet watches us intently at the quick, strange moment of meeting, to see whether we are disposed to be friendly.

There's as much revealed in the way a person lifts a glass as in what they say about some political issue.

It is difficult to imagine how any behavior in the presence of another person can avoid being a communication of one's own view of the nature of one's relationship with that person and how it can fail to influence that person.

My writing is about connecting ways of talking to human relationships. My purpose is to show that linguistics has something to offer in understanding and improving relationships.

I simply can't do one-word message replies: Yes. Ok. No. Sure. Cool. None of these are options for me. I must write something extra. Something personal. I put kisses and emoticons. Emoticons, by the way, are my very best friends. They have removed all the pressure of thinking up something personal to say.

When people walk in a room, the way they sit or they talk, that itself tells me a story.

We have to realize that when we talk in front of other people about things only we can understand, those people will not be able to avoid getting wrong impressions.

In the normal flow of a conversation, our attention is divided. We hear parts of what other people are saying, in order to follow and keep the conversation going. At the same time, we're planning what we'll say next, some exciting story of our own.

If you can hear music, you can hear the musicality of the way someone speaks. It's easier to nail down the way that they talk. So much of it is listening, just like in acting. If you're listening, you pick up the nuance of why a person behaves the way that they behave.

No matter what you say in carefully chosen sentences, girls will detect both the spoken and unspoken messages.

Human interaction is not a simple thing.

As a species, the look of another of our species into our eyes has a great power. It can mean a lot of different things: aggression, love.

Intonation is important, especially when it is cold.

As we ride the elevator Gale finally says “You're still angry.” “And you're still not sorry,” I reply. "I will stand by what I said. Do you want me to lie about it?” he asks. “No, I want you to rethink it and come up with the right opinion,” I tell him.

If we are disappointed that men give little heed to what we utter is it for their sake or our own?

Remember: whatsoever I am saying is not the thing that I want to say to you. Whatsoever I am saying has nothing to do with truth, because truth cannot be said. Whatsoever I am saying is nothing but a hammering. If you become awake, you will see the truth.

I love smiles. That is a fact. How to develop smiles? There are a variety of smiles. Some smiles are sarcastic. Some smiles are artificial-diplomatic smiles. These smiles do not produce satisfaction, but rather fear or suspicion. But a genuine smile gives us hope, freshness. If we want a genuine smile, then first we must produce the basis for a smile to come.

There were several ways of understanding her: there was what she said, and there was what she meant, and there was something between the two, that was neither.

My radar, after all these years of sanity, is still off when it comes to what people do or don't mean.

There is not, in fact, any such thing as the direct influence of one human being on another apart from use of the physical environment as an intermediary. A smile, a frown, a rebuke, a word of warning or encouragement, all involve some physical change. Otherwise, the attitude of one would not get over to alter the attitude of another.