Dustin Lance Black Quotes

I want my books to last, to stand the test of time, and to do that I focus on the forces that shape the subject - the cultural and sociological geography - to capture them in a way that will explain them no matter what they are doing.

I'm always interested in looking - historically - at how theater can animate history and how all of that can make us engage with our lives in an enriching way.

Whether I act or direct I ensure that there is a social message attached.

My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and heard, but that can also add to the conversation about what's going on now.

A vital film that needed to be made at this point in history and has been made magnificently.

A film like Hoop Dreams is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and makes us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself.

I always wanted to be historical, from almost a baby on, I felt that way about it.

People forget that art is not just a piece of entertainment. It is the place where we collectively declare our values and then act on them. That's one of the most powerful things we have as a community: our culture and our art. And it's the intersection between life and how people deal with life. It's the most important thing we do.

I think that fiction and, as I say, history and biography are immensely important, not only for their own sake, because they provide a picture of life now and of life in the past, but also as vehicles for the expression of general philosophic ideas, religious ideas, social ideas.

Things that are done, it is needless to speak about...things that are past, it is needless to blame.

In every domain of art, a work that corresponds to the need of its day carries a message of social and cultural value. It is the artist who crystallizes his age ... who fixes his time in history.

I think the condition of imperial denial is a handicap because if you do not recognize that you are essentially performing the functions of an empire, you are incapable of learning from the mistakes of past empires.

My biggest mistake was my best lesson... you don't learn anything when everything is going perfectly.

What did you learn today? What mistake did you make that taught you something? What did you try hard at today?

One mistake will never kill you. The same mistake over and over again will.

A mistake is an event, the full benefit of which has not yet been turned to your advantage.

It's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes.

Seek advice, but make sure it's from someone who has successfully handled mistakes or adversities.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned...is that we all have to learn from our mistakes, and we learn from those mistakes a lot more than we learn from the things we succeeded in doing.

How many times do we pay for one mistake? The answer is a thousand times for the same mistake. The human is the only animal on earth that pays a thousand times for ONE mistake. The rest of the animals pay once for every mistake.

If history is really relevant in today's world, the proposition doesn't command much respect. Perhaps the past is a different country, but if so no one much wants to travel there.

I feel the popular music of a certain time really tells you a lot about what life was like in that period.

Iliad by Homer is one of the great stories in literature. And I thought its themes really resonated today, whether that was my projection or Homer's intentions. It didn't seem like we had come very far.

Experience can dull. With most men experience is a series of mistakes; the more experience you have the less you know.

Your worst mistakes is actually your best advice.