--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not enough to demand insight and…" description: "\"It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg" --- # It is not enough to demand insight and informative images… ![“It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality. Our audience must experience not only the ways to free Prometheus, but be schooled in the very desire to free him. Theater…” quote by Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg) > “It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality. Our audience must experience not only the ways to free Prometheus, but be schooled in the very desire to free him. Theater must teach all the pleasures and joys of discovery, all the feelings of triumph associated with liberation.” [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Theater should ignite curiosity, inspire change, and teach the joy of liberation, not just depict reality. **In simple terms:** Theater must inspire and teach liberation. Key Takeaway Create art that provokes thought and action. Themes art education liberation inspiration theater Mood thoughtful provocative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - community workshops - school curricula - public performances - media campaigns Key Concepts Critical consciousness transformative art audience engagement Questions to Reflect On - How can theater balance entertainment and education? - What freedoms does your audience feel after a performance? A Different Perspective Risk of preaching over storytelling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Alienation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alienation/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Changing reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-reality/) [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Free Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-theater-3213474/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Informative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/informative/) [Insight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insight/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Liberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberation/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Prometheus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prometheus/) [Prometheus Schooled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prometheus-schooled-3213473/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-theater-1328791/) [Schooled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schooled/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theater/) [Theater Stimulate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theater-stimulate-3026114/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumph/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-informative-images-of-reality-2/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [There's a relationship in the reality with how theater is presented - you can't experience that anywhere else. When you mess up, you mess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-mack/there-s-a-relationship-in-the-reality-with-how-theater-is-presented/) [Allison Mack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-mack/) > [I live halfway between reality and theater at all times. And I was born this way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/i-live-halfway-between-reality-and-theater-at-all-times-and-i-was/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [The only reality of the theater exists in the mind of the audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mcburney/the-only-reality-of-the-theater-exists-in-the-mind-of-the-audience-2/) [Simon McBurney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mcburney/) > [Well, enforcement theater is OK if it's reality theater. In other words, obviously, you want to make it clear, you want to make people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/well-enforcement-theater-is-ok-if-it-s-reality-theater-in-other-words/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [The only reality of the theater exists in the mind of the audience. That audience looks collectively at what is going on on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mcburney/the-only-reality-of-the-theater-exists-in-the-mind-of-the-audience/) [Simon McBurney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mcburney/) > [Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/let-things-flow-naturally-forward-in-whatever-way-they-like/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The habits of the American consumer are changing; that's a reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-wells/the-habits-of-the-american-consumer-are-changing-that-s-a-reality/) [Linda Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-wells/) > [Language is power... Language can be used as a means of changing reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/language-is-power-language-can-be-used-as-a-means-of-changing-reality/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [If you read a book that's fiction and you get caught in the characters and the plot, and swept away, really, by the fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/if-you-read-a-book-that-s-fiction-and-you-get-caught-in-the/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“As you change your thoughts and your mental vision, you are changing your reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hocker/as-you-change-your-thoughts-and-your-mental-vision-you-are-changing/) [Alice Hocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hocker/) > [If there was no risk, it wouldn't be art. It wouldn't be worth making. There is risk even in a fairy tale. Fiction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-abani/if-there-was-no-risk-it-wouldn-t-be-art-it-wouldn-t-be-worth-making/) [Chris Abani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-abani/) > [Our focus has to be on changing reality, not changing laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-wudunn/our-focus-has-to-be-on-changing-reality-not-changing-laws/) [Sheryl WuDunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-wudunn/) > [Anything physical is always changing, therefore, its reality is not constant, not eternal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/anything-physical-is-always-changing-therefore-its-reality-is-not/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [Time is the product of changing realities, beings, existences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/time-is-the-product-of-changing-realities-beings-existences/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) ## More by Bertolt Brecht > [Their peace and their war Are like wind and storm. War grows from their peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/their-peace-and-their-war-are-like-wind-and-storm-war-grows-from/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Boy Meets Girl, So What?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/boy-meets-girl-so-what/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Some party hack decreed that the people had lost the government's confidence and could only regain it with redoubled effort. If that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/some-party-hack-decreed-that-the-people-had-lost-the-government-s/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/art-is-not-a-mirror-held-up-to-reality-but-a-hammer-with-which-to/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [People remain what they are even if their faces fall apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/people-remain-what-they-are-even-if-their-faces-fall-apart/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Go make yourself a plan And be a shining light. Then make yourself a second plan, For neither will come right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/go-make-yourself-a-plan-and-be-a-shining-light-then-make-yourself-a/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Fearful is the seductive power of goodness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/fearful-is-the-seductive-power-of-goodness/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Hungry man, reach for the book: it is a weapon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/hungry-man-reach-for-the-book-it-is-a-weapon/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [There are some with brains and some without. It makes for a better division of labour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/there-are-some-with-brains-and-some-without-it-makes-for-a-better/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [“When the sharks the sharks devour Little fishes have their hour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/when-the-sharks-the-sharks-devour-little-fishes-have-their-hour/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [“In my poetry a rhyme Would seem to me almost insolent. Inside me contend Delight at the apple tree in blossom And horror at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/in-my-poetry-a-rhyme-would-seem-to-me-almost-insolent-inside-me/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [“The law was made for one thing alone,for the exploitation of those who don't understand it, or are prevented by naked misery from obeying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/the-law-was-made-for-one-thing-alone-for-the-exploitation-of-those/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [From the start it has been the theatre's business to entertain people ... it needs no other passport than fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/from-the-start-it-has-been-the-theatre-s-business-to-entertain-people/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Whenever there are great virtues, it's a sure sign something's wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/whenever-there-are-great-virtues-it-s-a-sure-sign-something-s-wrong/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [First feed the face, then talk right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/first-feed-the-face-then-talk-right-and-wrong/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) [Explore all 260 Bertolt Brecht quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) ## More Actor quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I once told someone I could act. They totally bought it. I've been getting away with it ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/i-once-told-someone-i-could-act-they-totally-bought-it-i-ve-been/) [Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/) > [There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adeel-akhtar/there-has-got-to-be-a-way-for-me-to-have-a-role-on-tv-or-in-film-that/) [Adeel Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adeel-akhtar/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [I'm an actor, so I'm never going to feel like I've done enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italia-ricci/i-m-an-actor-so-i-m-never-going-to-feel-like-i-ve-done-enough/) [Italia Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italia-ricci/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When I was 13, I auditioned for the theater school, and I was there for four years. In the meantime, I did my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-de-armas/when-i-was-13-i-auditioned-for-the-theater-school-and-i-was-there-for/) [Ana de Armas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-de-armas/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) > [Actors don't hate acting. Most people don't hate acting! Whether you're a child mucking around with your friends or a grown up being paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-hewson/actors-don-t-hate-acting-most-people-don-t-hate-acting-whether-you-re/) [Liv Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-hewson/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [I never planned to do female roles. It just happened. I was typecast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divine/i-never-planned-to-do-female-roles-it-just-happened-i-was-typecast/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divine/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) [Browse all 21,590 Actor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality. Our audience must experience not only the ways to free Prometheus, but be schooled in the very desire to free him. Theater must teach all the pleasures and joys of discovery, all the feelings of triumph associated with liberation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bertolt Brecht" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-informative-images-of-reality/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Actor" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-informative-images-of-reality/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f46/bertolt-brecht-1065_alienation_it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-i_1145497.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must…” — Bertolt Brecht", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bertolt Brecht", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is not enough to demand...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-informative-images-of-reality/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/it-is-not-enough-to-demand-insight-and-informative-images-of-reality/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```