--- title: "3 Boston Quotes By William Monahan" description: "3 Boston quotes by William Monahan. Plus more from William Monahan and more Boston sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-monahan-3226_accents_the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-facto_982925.jpg" --- > [The thing about The Departed, the x-factor that people can't quite put their finger on, is that it deals clearly with class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-factor-that-people-can-t-quite-put/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-monahan-3226_accents_the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-facto_982925.jpg) > [Henry Adams was scared shitless, politically, by the discovery that England isn't alien to a boy from Boston, but it was true,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/henry-adams-was-scared-shitless-politically-by-the-discovery-that/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a75/william-monahan-3226_aliens_henry-adams-was-scared-shitless-politica_2144578.jpg) > [In Boston terms I was everyone and no one, with no social investment, no social insecurity, sort of Imitation of Christ in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/in-boston-terms-i-was-everyone-and-no-one-with-no-social-investment/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f38/william-monahan-3226_boston_in-boston-terms-i-was-everyone-and-no-on_2540902.jpg) ## Other authors on Boston - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-marty-walsh-4000.jpg) Marty Walsh 25 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/marty-walsh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-bruce-d-perry-20014.jpg) Thomas Menino 14 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/thomas-menino/) - [Michelle Wu 11 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/michelle-wu/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-kathrine-switzer-55627.jpg) Kathrine Switzer 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/kathrine-switzer/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-nat-hentoff-70269.jpg) Nat Hentoff 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/nat-hentoff/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alexis-stewart-11209.jpg) Tom Scholz 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/tom-scholz/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-manny-ramirez-63042.jpg) Manny Ramirez 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/manny-ramirez/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [Paul Laffoley 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/paul-laffoley/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-eliza-dushku-32449.jpg) Eliza Dushku 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/eliza-dushku/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-donald-trump-30060.jpg) Donald Trump 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/donald-trump/) ## More by William Monahan > [“I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/i-put-no-stock-in-religion-by-the-word-religion-i-have-seen-the/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [When I was a kid in London there was just something about the light and there's something about the way London went onto film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/when-i-was-a-kid-in-london-there-was-just-something-about-the-light/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [I think the only real referent for anybody writing drama is probably Hamlet. You have the most extreme tragic drama, this sort of blood-boltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/i-think-the-only-real-referent-for-anybody-writing-drama-is-probably/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [If you need someone to come out of the sewer with a wire you don't hire someone who needs laborious collective instruction. You let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/if-you-need-someone-to-come-out-of-the-sewer-with-a-wire-you-don-t/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [In reviewing films, people get quite liberal about saying "the script" this and "the script" that, when they've never read the script any more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/in-reviewing-films-people-get-quite-liberal-about-saying-the-script/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [The era I love most is the Federal period, just after the Revolution and the formation of the United States. The birth of America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/the-era-i-love-most-is-the-federal-period-just-after-the-revolution/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [You know a shooter when you see it. At least the creative people do. If a picture isn't obvious in the first draft you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/you-know-a-shooter-when-you-see-it-at-least-the-creative-people-do-if/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [If you see, as I do, in edited film, you're going to end up as a director.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/if-you-see-as-i-do-in-edited-film-you-re-going-to-end-up-as-a-director/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [I wanted to do London Boulevard because I saw the potential of a story about two people who need each other desperately, who love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/i-wanted-to-do-london-boulevard-because-i-saw-the-potential-of-a/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [Dialogue is used to reveal not what we want to say, but what we are trying to hide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/dialogue-is-used-to-reveal-not-what-we-want-to-say-but-what-we-are/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [Poetry died as a commercial form and then it died as a serious art form. No one serious touches it. It used to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/poetry-died-as-a-commercial-form-and-then-it-died-as-a-serious-art/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [Casting is all about availability, as much as anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/casting-is-all-about-availability-as-much-as-anything-else/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [For me, film has been good because I'm able to work at top crack, working at something I love to do, in the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/for-me-film-has-been-good-because-i-m-able-to-work-at-top-crack/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [London matters to me because it's the center of what I do for a living and has been since Tudor times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/london-matters-to-me-because-it-s-the-center-of-what-i-do-for-a/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [I was always entirely about work, about getting where I am now. If I'm not working I'm thinking about it, though at some point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/i-was-always-entirely-about-work-about-getting-where-i-am-now-if-i-m/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/william-monahan/#itemlist", "name": "3 Boston Quotes By William Monahan", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The thing about The Departed, the x-factor that people can't quite put their finger on, is that it deals clearly with class and accent all these things that are fundamental to Boston, but previously anomalous or even prohibited in demotic American films.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Monahan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-factor-that-people-can-t-quite-put/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-monahan-3226_accents_the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-facto_982925.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-monahan-3226_accents_the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-facto_982925.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae3/william-monahan-3226_accents_the-thing-about-the-departed-the-x-facto_982925.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The thing about The Departed, the x-factor that people can't quite put their finger on, is that it deals…” — William Monahan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Henry Adams was scared shitless, politically, by the discovery that England isn't alien to a boy from Boston, but it was true, and it is true. 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