Conor McPherson Quotes

#1. I started directing out of necessity, the first play I wrote in college because I didn't know anyone who could direct it.

Conor McPherson

#2. We know so little of the why, what the universe is, what infinity is. The veil around us is very fragile.

Conor McPherson

#3. I'm anxious about work, the future, friendships, past relationships ... I'm just one of those people that, whatever I'm doing, it's a big worry.

Conor McPherson

#4. I'm not a good storyteller - I much prefer to be with people who are chatty, to have the luxury of listening.

Conor McPherson

#5. I would love to make a 1830's period piece, a house in the country, a classic atmospheric haunted house movie, visually it would be so beautiful, the costumes, the candles, the darkness, and the quiet, no radio, to TV, the clock ticking away.

Conor McPherson

#6. I think Catholicism took root very quickly in Ireland because it's a very superstitious religion, the holy ghost, the holy spirit, it has a goddess, very visual, the music.

Conor McPherson

#7. I guess I'm attracted and repelled by isolation. It scares me. And it's why I tend to write about older characters, too, because for them the stakes are somewhat higher.

Conor McPherson

#8. I just want the actors to put their faith in the language. Just let the words do the work.

Conor McPherson

#9. It's probably the last thing you think about when you're making a film is other people's problems. You're thinking about your problem, which is making the movie. But you do have a responsibility. You can't mess around with people's emotions.

Conor McPherson

#10. I could not flourish in the Hollywood system because the first thing spoken about is "What genre is it?" and "Who's it for?" It's a very strange question to me; it's for human beings.

Conor McPherson

#11. Directing is such a crucial part of the writing process; you start directing and you see what does not work. "Oh, God, what was I thinking?" and then you can rearrange it.

Conor McPherson

#12. I have a theory about Ireland, being at the edge of Europe. For 1,000 years, people didn't know what was beyond. But we thought about it - a lot. And that 'beyond' became internalized in our psyche.

Conor McPherson

#13. If I wasn't plagued by needing to write things, that would perhaps be a blessing.

Conor McPherson

#14. The young person isn't certain that love can be real; the middle-aged man is only discovering that it is; and the older person seems so sure of it. I was interested in the way that many of us go through the whole of our lives staying with someone just out of complacency, because leaving isn't easy.

Conor McPherson

#15. We're all ordinary in a way. We can all be hurt. We can all be unbalanced. We all have feelings. Life can treat us harshly, even shockingly sometimes.

Conor McPherson

#16. I love stories that frame that: This is what life is about - you don't have a clue.

Conor McPherson

#17. When people are out of their comfort zone, it's more dramatic, more prone to have more entertaining experiences, get into fights. That's the dramatic instinct, to move people out of what they know and make them deal with it.

Conor McPherson

#18. The play is a very simple idea really; someone needs some support and consolation, and she finds a place where she gets it.

Conor McPherson