Wendy Wasserstein

One of the things about what . . . I do - writing plays - is that a poll is not taken…

— Wendy Wasserstein

anyone who writes plays is unbelievably persistent, because there isn't a need in the world for plays. Somehow you internally have to…

— Wendy Wasserstein

I really worked at becoming more assertive, and now none of my friends talk to me.

— Wendy Wasserstein

Sometimes I want to clean up my desk and go out and say, respect me, I'm a respectable grown-up, and other times…

— Wendy Wasserstein

Personally I don't spend much time thinking about being funny. For me it's always been just a way to get by, a…

— Wendy Wasserstein

No matter how lonely you get or how many birth announcements you receive, the trick is not to get frightened. There's nothing…

— Wendy Wasserstein

The trick. . .is to find the balance between the bright colors of humor and the serious issues of identity, self-loathing, and…

— Wendy Wasserstein

being funny is a way of being liked and a way of dealing with sadness.

— Wendy Wasserstein

Being a grownup means assuming responsibility for yourself, for your children, and - here's the big curve - for your parents.

— Wendy Wasserstein

No matter how successful I become as a playwright, my mother would be thrilled to hear me tell her that I'd just…

— Wendy Wasserstein

I very much write from characters. Those people start speaking, and then I have them in the house with me and I…

— Wendy Wasserstein

“In the world of The Age of Innocence , a financial disaster or moral scandal would permanently exile a guest from the…

— Wendy Wasserstein

to live life as a writer is a very lucky thing.

— Wendy Wasserstein

Sloth is the fastest-growing lifestyle movement in the world, and that's because it is completely doable. If you embrace sloth, it's the…

— Wendy Wasserstein

I'm not going to throw my imagination away. I refuse to lie down to expectation. If I can just hold out till…

— Wendy Wasserstein

Our lives are not totally random. We make commitments, we cause things to happen.

— Wendy Wasserstein

The real reason for comedy is to hide the pain.

— Wendy Wasserstein

The struggle to be considered a grown-up begins, I believe, shortly after birth.

— Wendy Wasserstein

I thought I would write something that would make some people uncomfortable. . . . What intrigued me, I think, was the…

— Wendy Wasserstein

I don't much like to think that being a bachelor girl limits how you see the world. On the other hand, I…

— Wendy Wasserstein

“Women like us have to learn to give to those who appreciate it instead of to those who expect it.”

— Wendy Wasserstein

I wrote my first play, Uncommon Women and Others, in the hopes of seeing an all-female curtain call in the basement of…

— Wendy Wasserstein

Anyone who is considered funny will tell you, sometimes without your even asking, that deep inside they are very serious, neurotic, introspective…

— Wendy Wasserstein

The thing I longed for as a teenager is now an object of neglect and scorn. I've grown to hate my telephone.

— Wendy Wasserstein

Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.

— Wendy Wasserstein