Kenneth Lonergan Quotes

Man can find no better retreat from the world than art, and man can find no stronger link with the world than art.

I've always been a fan of movies well before I got involved in the industry. The magic that it brings and being able to, I guess, escape your troubles, escape whatever is going on in life and getting to live in this moment and in the story and live in the lives of these characters.

The world is always ending for someone. It’s a good line. I give it to the father of the child. He says it to his wife. ‘The world is always ending for someone,’ he says. She is trying to quieten the baby, and does not hear him. I doubt that it would matter if she did.

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn In the place of their self-content; There are souls like stars that dwell apart, In a fellowless firmament; There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths Where highways never ran,-- But let me live by the side of the road, And be a friend to man.

I think that movies can help guide us through those experiences [the problems that are happening in our daily lives, the stresses between countries, the economy and global warming]. I think all art tries to grapple with, redefine, come to terms with, express what's happening now when it's working. You can be entertained, but you can also be stimulated to think about things.

You can't be human alone.

Society than solitude is worse, And man to man is still the greatest curse.

The most important part about playing shows and touring, is connecting with fans. At the end of the day it's not really a band and fans, we're all just human beings.

We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say — and to feel — "Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought."

I feel that the world is in a really dangerous place and it scares me.

That's what I miss, being a real human.

Every single bit of entertainment is escapism. It's because you are saying, "Let's see what this other person's life is like." And also it's beyond escapism, its entertainment and art as such can elevate the species. The entertainer supposedly is the muse. They're the ones who tell you what is wrong with society in a humorous way. They're the ones who do an expose about this or a documentary about that about the injustice of this. So it can be a very powerful medium.

We read to know we're not alone.

Of all the arts, movies are the most powerful aid to empathy, and good ones make us into better people.

We're a terribly lonesome society. For all I know, all societies are. You can make a few new friends, that's all. You can't change history. History is happening to us now.

I think movies probably are a mirror in some way so we can see ourselves in them.

We watch movies about all sorts of things that we don't know anything about, but we do get caught up in the human drama.

In solitude we realize that nothing human is alien to us.

To be without sympathy is to be alone in the world--without friends or country, home or kindred.

...we all want to hear stories, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Stories connect our little lives with the world around us and help us discover who we are.

So many of us are reaching out, hoping someone out there will grab our hands and remind us we are not as alone as we fear.

The only way we will survive is by being kind. The only way we can get by in this world is through the help we receive from others. No one can do it alone, no matter how great the machines are.

Sharing lets us feel less isolated and puts us on a path of being connected. At the end of the day, that's what we all want.

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship

Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone.