--- title: "10 Should Quotes By Tony Kushner" description: "10 Should quotes by Tony Kushner. Plus more from Tony Kushner and more Should sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/tony-kushner-2204_break_i-don-t-understand-why-i-m-not-dead-when_1879253.jpg" --- > [I don't understand why I'm not dead. When your heart breaks, you should die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-don-t-understand-why-i-m-not-dead-when-your-heart-breaks-you-should/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/tony-kushner-2204_break_i-don-t-understand-why-i-m-not-dead-when_1879253.jpg) > [A play should have barely been rescued from the mess it might just as easily have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/a-play-should-have-barely-been-rescued-from-the-mess-it-might-just-as/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/tony-kushner-2204_actor_a-play-should-have-barely-been-rescued-f_740042.jpg) > [I think I'll always be a better playwright than a pundit, but I believe that writers should be public intellectuals and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-think-i-ll-always-be-a-better-playwright-than-a-pundit-but-i/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f21/tony-kushner-2204_believe_i-think-i-ll-always-be-a-better-playwrig_1299011.jpg) > [The primary thing I should do, apart from being a good husband, brother, son, and friend, is to be a citizen activist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-primary-thing-i-should-do-apart-from-being-a-good-husband-brother/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/tony-kushner-2204_activist_the-primary-thing-i-should-do-apart-from_1874237.jpg) > [In a sense, I feel like the job of the artist at all times is essentially the same, which is simply to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/in-a-sense-i-feel-like-the-job-of-the-artist-at-all-times-is/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1c/tony-kushner-2204_all-time_in-a-sense-i-feel-like-the-job-of-the-ar_1676915.jpg) > [When I teach writing, I always tell my students you should assume that the audience you're writing for is smarter than you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/when-i-teach-writing-i-always-tell-my-students-you-should-assume-that/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/tony-kushner-2204_assuming_when-i-teach-writing-i-always-tell-my-st_763337.jpg) > [The way that same-sex marriage should reach the federal level is that it absolutely should be decided by the Supreme Court as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-way-that-same-sex-marriage-should-reach-the-federal-level-is-that/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/tony-kushner-2204_14th-amendment_the-way-that-same-sex-marriage-should-re_2632502.jpg) > [That it should be the questions and shape of a life, its total complexity gathered, arranged, and considered, which matters in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/that-it-should-be-the-questions-and-shape-of-a-life-its-total/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/685/tony-kushner-2204_complexity_that-it-should-be-the-questions-and-shap_614776.jpg) > [If you're gay and you can't hold hands, or you're black and you can't catch a taxi, or you're a woman and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/if-you-re-gay-and-you-can-t-hold-hands-or-you-re-black-and-you-can-t/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/tony-kushner-2204_black_if-you-re-gay-and-you-can-t-hold-hands-o_1405051.jpg) > [There are certainly people for whom politics is not a category that helps you understand human existence. In fact, it's kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/there-are-certainly-people-for-whom-politics-is-not-a-category-that/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/tony-kushner-2204_cases_there-are-certainly-people-for-whom-poli_785754.jpg) ## Other authors on Should ## More by Tony Kushner > [My whole life has conspired to bring me to this place, and I can’t despise my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/my-whole-life-has-conspired-to-bring-me-to-this-place-and-i-can-t/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The big influence on me was Robert Altman, who, especially in 'Nashville,' transformed my sense of dramatic structure and showed how you could handle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-big-influence-on-me-was-robert-altman-who-especially-in-nashville/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“Fabulous. If you possess it, you don’t need to ask what it is. When you attempt to delineate it, you move away from it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/fabulous-if-you-possess-it-you-don-t-need-to-ask-what-it-is-when-you/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [People are more easily manipulated when they don't have information. If you ensure that kids grow up without basic reading skills, math skills, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/people-are-more-easily-manipulated-when-they-don-t-have-information/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The white cracker who wrote the National Anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word "free" to a note so high nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-white-cracker-who-wrote-the-national-anthem-knew-what-he-was/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“If the snake sheds his skin before a new skin is ready, naked he will be in the world, prey to the forces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/if-the-snake-sheds-his-skin-before-a-new-skin-is-ready-naked-he-will/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“MATAMORE: I never fight with my love face on, I worry that it might get scratched.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/matamore-i-never-fight-with-my-love-face-on-i-worry-that-it-might-get/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“I never really feel that I’m stuck. I actually think that people are never stuck, there’s no such thing as writers block, I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-never-really-feel-that-i-m-stuck-i-actually-think-that-people-are/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The act of thinking and interpreting is so central to Judaism that it makes more sense that we've become people like Woody Allen -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-act-of-thinking-and-interpreting-is-so-central-to-judaism-that-it/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [Respect the delicate ecology of your delusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/respect-the-delicate-ecology-of-your-delusions/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [The general consensus among historians, among the ones who can handle the fact that 'Lincoln' is, in fact, historical fiction, is that we demonstrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-general-consensus-among-historians-among-the-ones-who-can-handle/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“I've lived through such terrible times and there are people who live through much worse. But you see them living anyway. When they're more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-ve-lived-through-such-terrible-times-and-there-are-people-who-live/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [When really writing I'm not a good friend. Because writing disorganizes the social self, you become atomized. It scrambles you, sometimes to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/when-really-writing-i-m-not-a-good-friend-because-writing/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [My back went out and I gained 40 pounds while sweating over 'Perestroika.' It was incredibly hard, the hardest thing I had to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/my-back-went-out-and-i-gained-40-pounds-while-sweating-over/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [Film is like tech starts on the first day of filming and it never stops. There's never a moment when the audience comes in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/film-is-like-tech-starts-on-the-first-day-of-filming-and-it-never/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/tony-kushner/#itemlist", "name": "10 Should Quotes By Tony Kushner", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't understand why I'm not dead. 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But I'm afraid it takes away from the writing. Not that anything depends on whether I put an essay in 'The Nation' or not. But you want to participate.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-primary-thing-i-should-do-apart-from-being-a-good-husband-brother/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/tony-kushner-2204_activist_the-primary-thing-i-should-do-apart-from_1874237.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/tony-kushner-2204_activist_the-primary-thing-i-should-do-apart-from_1874237.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/tony-kushner-2204_activist_the-primary-thing-i-should-do-apart-from_1874237.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The primary thing I should do, apart from being a good husband, brother, son, and friend, is to be a citizen…” — Tony Kushner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In a sense, I feel like the job of the artist at all times is essentially the same, which is simply to tell the truth. I mean, I'm nervous about any prescriptions for what a writer should or shouldn't do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/in-a-sense-i-feel-like-the-job-of-the-artist-at-all-times-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1c/tony-kushner-2204_all-time_in-a-sense-i-feel-like-the-job-of-the-ar_1676915.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1c/tony-kushner-2204_all-time_in-a-sense-i-feel-like-the-job-of-the-ar_1676915.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1c/tony-kushner-2204_all-time_in-a-sense-i-feel-like-the-job-of-the-ar_1676915.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In a sense, I feel like the job of the artist at all times is essentially the same, which is simply to tell…” — Tony Kushner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I teach writing, I always tell my students you should assume that the audience you're writing for is smarter than you. You can't write if you don't think they're on your side, because then you start to yell at them or preach down to them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/when-i-teach-writing-i-always-tell-my-students-you-should-assume-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/tony-kushner-2204_assuming_when-i-teach-writing-i-always-tell-my-st_763337.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/tony-kushner-2204_assuming_when-i-teach-writing-i-always-tell-my-st_763337.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea7/tony-kushner-2204_assuming_when-i-teach-writing-i-always-tell-my-st_763337.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I teach writing, I always tell my students you should assume that the audience you're writing for is…” — Tony Kushner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The way that same-sex marriage should reach the federal level is that it absolutely should be decided by the Supreme Court as quickly as possible. It's a 14th Amendment issue. There's no argument about it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/the-way-that-same-sex-marriage-should-reach-the-federal-level-is-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/tony-kushner-2204_14th-amendment_the-way-that-same-sex-marriage-should-re_2632502.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/tony-kushner-2204_14th-amendment_the-way-that-same-sex-marriage-should-re_2632502.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/641/tony-kushner-2204_14th-amendment_the-way-that-same-sex-marriage-should-re_2632502.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The way that same-sex marriage should reach the federal level is that it absolutely should be decided by the…” — Tony Kushner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That it should be the questions and shape of a life, its total complexity gathered, arranged, and considered, which matters in the end, not some stamp of salvation or damnation that disperses all the complexity into some unsatisfying little decision - the balancing of scales.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/that-it-should-be-the-questions-and-shape-of-a-life-its-total/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/685/tony-kushner-2204_complexity_that-it-should-be-the-questions-and-shap_614776.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/685/tony-kushner-2204_complexity_that-it-should-be-the-questions-and-shap_614776.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/685/tony-kushner-2204_complexity_that-it-should-be-the-questions-and-shap_614776.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That it should be the questions and shape of a life, its total complexity gathered, arranged, and…” — Tony Kushner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you're gay and you can't hold hands, or you're black and you can't catch a taxi, or you're a woman and you can't go into the park, you are aware there's a menace. That's costly on a psychic level. The world should be striving to make all its members secure.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/if-you-re-gay-and-you-can-t-hold-hands-or-you-re-black-and-you-can-t/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/tony-kushner-2204_black_if-you-re-gay-and-you-can-t-hold-hands-o_1405051.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/tony-kushner-2204_black_if-you-re-gay-and-you-can-t-hold-hands-o_1405051.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/913/tony-kushner-2204_black_if-you-re-gay-and-you-can-t-hold-hands-o_1405051.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you're gay and you can't hold hands, or you're black and you can't catch a taxi, or you're a woman and…” — Tony Kushner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are certainly people for whom politics is not a category that helps you understand human existence. In fact, it's kind of a detour into superficiality, and although I disagree with those people, I don't think it's the case that everyone who writes has to write politically or has to write in opposition to the really horrendous things that are going on on a political level in the world today. There are some writers who simply aren't any good at that and really should stay away from it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tony Kushner" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/there-are-certainly-people-for-whom-politics-is-not-a-category-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/tony-kushner-2204_cases_there-are-certainly-people-for-whom-poli_785754.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/tony-kushner-2204_cases_there-are-certainly-people-for-whom-poli_785754.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/tony-kushner-2204_cases_there-are-certainly-people-for-whom-poli_785754.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are certainly people for whom politics is not a category that helps you understand human existence. 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