Top 100 Show Don't Tell Quotes
#1. Show (don't tell) your customers that you have good quality by actually delivering fresh coffee and tea. Intelligent people are active recipients of information, and prefer to reach conclusions by themselves.
Jerry Baldwin
#2. To show don't tell and all that other writery crap. (Adopted-orphan smile, I mean, that's not bad, come on.)
Gillian Flynn
#3. LEARN FROM THE MASTERS:
Mark Twain once said, "Show, don't tell." This is an incredibly important lesson for writers to remember; never get such a giant head that you feel entitled to throw around obscure phrases like "Show, don't tell." Thanks for nothing, Mr. Cryptic.
Colin Nissan
#4. The first rule of good theatre is 'Show, don't tell.' It applies to good political action as well.
Carne Ross
#6. I know you've all heard the advice, "Show, don't tell." The best writers don't tell you, and quite frankly they don't just show you
they make you feel it, live it, taste it, touch it. Storytelling is about being in the moment with the characters.
Josh Lanyon
#7. Janine smiles. Strike the second sentence. Reader will know. Show, don't tell.
Gabrielle Zevin
#9. Rules such as "Write what you know," and "Show, don't tell," while doubtlessly grounded in good sense, can be ignored with impunity by any novelist nimble enough to get away with it. There is, in fact, only one rule in writing fiction: Whatever works, works.
Tom Robbins
#10. This means keeping many trails open at once, inevitably requiring a fairly 'parallel' plot. This plot should be discovered rather than announced, so show, don't tell.
Graham Nelson
#12. I've read way too much on the overused/misunderstood buzzwords "Show, don't tell!" that I'm convinced all novels should now be picture books
Michael Kroft
#13. I say fuck the old advice 'show, don't tell.' It's called story TELLING for a reason, and I'll stick to it!
Ashly Lorenzana
#14. Most people say, "Show, don't tell," but I stand by Show and Tell, because when writers put their work out into the world, they're like kids bringing their broken unicorns and chewed-up teddy bears into class in the sad hope that someone else will love them as much as they do.
Colson Whitehead
#15. Show, don't tell, is a mantra repeated by tutors of creative writing courses the world over. As advice for amateurs, it is sound and helps avoid character profiling, unactivated scenes, and broken narrative frames.
Sarah Hall
#16. I think it's fair to say I am a writer. I'm using this journal to get better: to hone my skills, to collect details and observations. To show don't tell and all that other writerly crap.
Gillian Flynn
#17. Our best moral stories don't tell us what is right or wrong in every situation, but they show us what one character did in one situation at one time. Readers, viewers, and listeners are supposed to extrapolate the moral meaning from the story. We're not supposed to have it handed to us.
Jonathan D. Fitzgerald
#18. You don't need anybody to tell you what is right or wrong. What you need, perhaps, is someone to show you how to come to those understandings.
Frederick Lenz
#19. I'd love to tell actors about all the things they don't need to worry about. Less is more. If you have it inside, you don't need to show too much. People pick up on things.
Sigourney Weaver
#20. Stella's father hesitated. "Georgia supports me, but she was a mite trembly this morning. I brought Stella though."He squeezed her shoulders affectionately. "I don't want to just tell her about bravery--I want to show her what it looks like.
Sharon M. Draper
#21. Bad boy stopped her, placing a hand on her knees. "Tell you what, if you don't have a guy worshiping you by this time next year, come find me. I'll show you a weekend you'll never forget.
Eden Summers
#22. As a writer, it is my job to tell a story. I don't want to get involved in social commentary; I just want to show issues from a different point of view. I want to show issues from a perspective that may not be highlighted.
Nicola Monaghan
#23. Exactly what don't I think is beautiful? Listen, I don't care what you say about my race, creed, or religion, Fatty, but don't tell me I'm not sensitive to beauty. To me, everything is beautiful. Show me a pink sunset and I'm limp, by God. Anything.
J.D. Salinger
#24. I'll tell you one thing, in what I do for a living, there's no substitute for experience. I don't care how much natural talent you may have ... In the type of show I do, you can depend on surprises.
Bob Barker
#25. I want to tell my jokes. I want to have time with my children. I want to entertain people. And at one point, I'll walk away from show business. But I don't want to walk away empty-handed.
Dave Chappelle
#26. I don't want people kissing my butt. If I had a bad show and I know it, don't tell me I had a good show. I hate that. I guess because I'm 17, people think I don't see stuff like that.
Britney Spears
#27. There are people who follow me on Twitter and tell me how much they don't like me, how much they don't want me on the show, and that they hope I die. And it's not just about the character. They tell me how they've never liked Scott Foley, and that he's a stupid, white, plain-bread looking fool.
Scott Foley
#28. Don't wait for people to tell you who you are. Show them.
Laura Benanti
#29. But don't tell me I'm not sensitive to beauty. That's my Achilles' heel, and don't you forget it. To me, everything is beautiful. Show me a pink sunset and I'm limp, by God ...
J.D. Salinger
#31. Don't tell people what you're going to do, or what kind of person you are. Just show them.
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
#32. Books. It's always easier to tell people that a character is funny rather than attempt to hit the punchline of a joke that character would've said. But if we all simply told, books would cease to exist. And so would empathy. And feeling.
Joyce Rachelle
#33. Make up a story ... For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don't tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief's wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear's caul.
Toni Morrison
#34. I tell you one thing that's great about children. They don't need a show to have fun. What do they need? A book of matches, some oily rags, a little brother ... that's all they need.
Dave Attell
#35. The Four Rules of Life:
1. Show Up 2. Pay Attention 3.Tell the Truth 4. Don't be upset at the results.
Bill Vaughan
#36. You see, I'm a believer in the rhapsodic. I like things that are happy. For no particular reason, I just like them. Most people don't seem to be like that in this particular place, in this world. You can tell by what they focus on. Read a newspaper, watch a TV show, go to a movie, look at a life.
Frederick Lenz
#37. Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.
Joe Biden
#38. Flowers don't tell, they show. That's the way good books should be too.
Stephanie Skeem. Author of Flotsam
Stephanie Skeem
#39. Wait." Amber jumped up wide-eyed. "Is she a - "
"A ghost " I smirked. "Amber you're a necromancer in a show about raising the dead. What did you expect Eerie sounds produced by a computer and a few Hollywood actors in bad makeup Please don't tell me you've never seen a real ghost.
Jayde Scott
#40. Don't tell me about your effort. Show me your results.
Tim Fargo
#41. Storytellers don't show, they tell. I'm sticking with that.
Ashly Lorenzana
#42. People don't believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often believe what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.
Seth Godin
#43. I've never had anyone put on a puppet show to convince me of anything. And I've done a lot of stuff. I don't know that I would put the puppets on when I was pitching a show. This was the head of the studio putting a puppet show on. And I'll tell you, he wasn't bad.
Garry Shandling
#44. Ask anybody doing truly creative work, and they'll tell you the truth: They don't know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up to do their thing. Every day.
Austin Kleon
#45. I won't lie - I don't care.
And you should quit trying to deceive yourself because I can tell by the way you show no desire to do anything but complain about the issue that you don't honestly care either.
Richelle E. Goodrich
#46. Don't do coke I don't blow niggas, I don't tell niggas I show niggas
Nicki Minaj
#47. Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass.
Bernard Cornwell
#48. Don't tell me about your god with your words. Show me about your god with your actions.
Steve Maraboli
#49. Don't be afraid to show your light.. If it ends up being too much for people.. tell them to wear sunglasses!
Gabrielle Roth
#50. Don't tell me you're going to be on the honor roll. Shut up! Go to work! And show me!
Eric Thomas
#51. 'Antiques Roadshow' is my favorite show. Every Monday night I have one hour of appointment television. I get the popcorn out and tell my husband, 'Don't bother me.'
Lara Spencer
#52. I don't like work
no man does
but I like what is in the work
the chance to find yourself. Your own reality
for yourself not for others
what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.
Joseph Conrad
#53. That's the rub about 'Community' - for all the high-concept cleverness, it really comes down to vulgar humanism, the dumbest kind of sentimental identification. We watch it because we like these people and we miss them when they don't show up. They become part of the stories we tell ourselves.
Rob Sheffield
#54. You can tell the truly wealthy from their confidence, their grace. People here don't show their wealth, they hide it. They covet it.
Alessandra Torre
#55. I am telling folks that the Country as a whole is "Sound," and that all those who's heads are solid are bound to get back into the market again. I tell 'em that this Country is bigger than Wall Street, and if they don't believe it, I show 'em the map.
Will Rogers
#58. I don't really know what is shocking. When you tell the story of a man who is beheaded, you have to show how they cut off his head. If you don't, it's like telling a dirty joke and leaving out the punch line.
Roman Polanski
#59. We don't really need reviewers, just first-night reporters who will tell us faithfully whether or not the audience liked the show.
Carroll O'Connor
#60. Don't just tell me your brother is funny-show me what he says and does and let me decide whether I want to laugh.
Dennis G. Jerz
#61. I'm not exactly Miss Confidence. I busy myself with all kinds of activities and I do well in school and I try to look pretty but I still need someone to tell me I'm worthwhile. To show me attention. I don't like it. I don't like it at all ...
Stephen Emond
#62. Dear Mama, don't cry, your baby boy's doin' good,
Tell the homies I'm in heaven, and they ain't got hoods.
Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night, it had me shook,
Drippin' peppermint Schnapps, with Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke ...
Tupac Shakur
#63. My show is sort of a short-film anthology, and I'm able to tell little stories that don't necessarily carry a whole episode in terms of narrative. I like the audience not being sure what they're getting. I think it's more fun to watch something when you're discovering it as you go along.
Louis C.K.
#64. We don't want to just tell [students] who the people are, we don't want to just tell them what happened - we want to show the process by which it formed itself.
Andrew Aydin
#65. It was a JOB; the video show was a JOB; you don't tell the Aristocrats joke at 8 o'clock at night on network tv, it would be funny though. But those guys know I like dirty stuff, I like clean stuff too.
Bob Saget
#66. I don't tell you what you should do or not do; I only show you who you are
-the timeless and unchanging awareness.
When this is firmly established inside you,
your life will unfold spontaneously and joyously.
Mooji
#67. Show me what you can do; don't tell me what you can do.
John Wooden
#68. We have a very intelligent team. I've had clubs that when you tell a guy to go back door, he leaves the gym. Or you tell the team you're going to have a closed practice and eight guys don't show up.
Jim Valvano
#69. Build, don't tell
Show , don't sell
Anonymous
#70. You like the way I dress The way I wear my hair Show me off to all your friends Baby, I don't care Just as long as you tell them who I am Tell them I'm the one that made you give a damn
Jennifer Lopez
#71. I would tell new artists to be themselves. Show your talents first, have your own identity, don't try to be Lady Saw. If you're coming out to be like me, once you get in, return back to yourself, that's the only way you'll be happy. Don't come in trying to be me and then disrespect me.
Lady Saw
#72. I try to show everybody Iceland all the time. My people are like, "Don't tell everybody the secret. It's so peaceful and beautiful here!" It's incredible; I go home and drive across country, and go to my mom's place and it's dark with the Northern Lights, and I like to sit in some hot springs.
Anita Briem
#73. The great thing is that young talent isn't tied to a how-to model for starting a line; we get to find new ways to go about doing things. And don't let people tell you you can't. Go find a way to show that you can.
Alexander Wang
#74. I can't tell you how many people have asked me to show them Stray Cat Strut and that little diminished run on the C. I guess my brain is wired backwards. I don't know what possessed me to do that, but I did.
Brian Setzer
#75. Never mind the transience of show business and popularity. When we hear Ray Charles, we go, 'That's a great singer.' You don't need a reporter or a writer to tell us. Good is good and it should shine through the years.
Art Garfunkel
#76. I've read the articles that show up in all the women's magazines about marital ruts and turning the heat up in your marriage. They don't tell you anything real. They don't have any answers.
Taylor Jenkins Reid
#77. Don't tell me what you're going to do, show me what you've done.
Smith
#78. So how can you tell me you're lonely, and say for you that the sun don't shine? Let me take you by the hand, and lead you through the streets of London. I'll show you something to make you change your mind.
Ralph McTell
#79. I try to create an environment where it's okay to make a mistake, though it's not okay to be unfocused or come in unprepared. I'm challenging and demanding, but very patient. I don't tell you how to get there and I don't show you what to do, though I'll ask leading questions.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
#80. One of the things I've always tried to do in filmmaking is that you don't tell the story, you try to show it.
Rick Heinrichs
#81. Be a role model not a critic. Don't tell your children, your peers, or your subordinates what to do - show them. And when the lesson is over, keep showing them by demonstrating that your actions are part of your character, not part of their curriculum.
Denis Waitley
#82. I swear, Z. I was hoping you'd use this time here to show Artemis that you can mingle with people again. (Acheron)
Sure you were. Why don't you cover me in shit and tell me it's mud while you're at it? (Zarek)
Sherrilyn Kenyon
#83. It's hard to tell what an entire series is going to be based on the first few episodes, or even on the first season. And it's sad because you see great casts and good ideas that don't get that opportunity to grow and show what it could turn into.
Kaley Cuoco
#84. Show, not tell, right? Action, not words. You don't want to hear how sorry I am or how things will be different this time. You want to see it with your own eyes. And until I can show you that, you won't tell me what I want to hear.
Ann Aguirre
#85. I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don't want to them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don't like, I'll tell them.
Stephen Chbosky
#86. You should go then. Don't go. Don't bloody leave me. Throw your arms around me. I don't care if you smear my face with paint, Anna. Tell me you love me. Show me you still want me. Torture me at bit more.Oh, God ... she was walking away from me.
Wendy Higgins
#87. Show me an Irishman who can't tell a story - I don't think they exist.
Patricia Polacco
#88. Whereas with poetry no one has to show anybody really, and you don't have to tell anyone you're doing it.
Roger McGough
#89. I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.
Simon Cowell
#90. We don't have a laugh track, which helped Seinfeld a lot, and did kind of tell people when to laugh. It just made it a lot easier. Our show doesn't have that, so it's hard for Middle America to catch on.
Alia Shawkat
#91. I actually don't watch TV at all. If you asked me what my favorite TV show is, I couldn't tell you because I don't watch TV.
Jimmy Bennett
#92. I don't have to worry about writing jokes. I just tell stories about things that have happened to me. As long as I'm alive and I'm living and I'm experiencing different things every day, the show will always change.
Gabriel Iglesias
#93. A man ought to get all he can earn. A man who knows he's making money for other people ought to get some of the profit he brings in. Don't make any difference if it's baseball or a bank or a vaudeville show. It's business, I tell you. There ain't no sentiment to it. Forget that stuff.
Babe Ruth
#94. A guy can tell a girl he's in love with her until he's blue in the face. Words don't mean anything to a woman when her head's full of doubt. You have to show her.
Colleen Hoover
#95. I don't want to tell people what to think. I just want to show people what I think.
Thu Tran
#96. The thing that 'Glee' has successfully done that no other TV show has is that they're just honest - but they don't tell you what's right or wrong. They don't tell you what to agree with or what to believe in.
Samuel Larsen
#97. I can tell if someone is talking to me because I'm on 'Friends' or cause they just think I'm neat. You know I don't think I've ever spent more than five or ten minutes with somebody who was ogling me because they recognized me from the show.
Matthew Perry
#98. I'm a man. I don't do conversation well, but I do my best to show you every day what you mean to me. If I'm not doin' that right, you need to tell me. I'll do better. But don't fuckin' question how I feel about you. I feel nothing unless I'm with you. You give me life.
Norma Jeanne Karlsson
#99. I tell my students all the time is, for better or worse, no publisher is going to come wrench your story out of your hands before you're ready to let it go. You will have time to take stuff out. You don't have to show it to anybody. That's what I did.
Melissa Febos
#100. Don't fuck it up. She's independent and she's been doing on her own for so long she'll never be the girl to tell you how much she needs you. But she'll show you how much she wants this. I've known her since we were twelve, and you're it for her.
Christina Lauren
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