--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Take some wood and canvas and nails and…" description: "\"Take some wood and canvas and nails and things. Build yourself a theater, a stage, light it, learn about it. When you've done that you will probably kn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/eugene-o-neill-4173_canvas_take-some-wood-and-canvas-and-nails-and_1083290.png" --- # Take some wood and canvas and nails and things. Build… ![“Take some wood and canvas and nails and things. Build yourself a theater, a stage, light it, learn about it. When you've done that you will probably know how to write a play.” quote by Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/eugene-o-neill-4173_canvas_take-some-wood-and-canvas-and-nails-and_1083290.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/eugene-o-neill-4173_canvas_take-some-wood-and-canvas-and-nails-and_1083290.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/eugene-o-neill-4173_canvas_take-some-wood-and-canvas-and-nails-and_1083290.png) > “Take some wood and canvas and nails and things. Build yourself a theater, a stage, light it, learn about it. When you've done that you will probably know how to write a play.” [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating a physical space for performance teaches the craft of storytelling through hands‑on experience. **In simple terms:** Building a stage teaches you how to write plays. Key Takeaway Learn by doing, not just by reading. Themes theatre craft learning creativity Mood enthusiastic inspired Type instructional motivational When to use this quote - school drama clubs - community theater projects - DIY stage building - creative workshops Key Concepts practical experience embodied learning process art Questions to Reflect On - What hands‑on project could deepen your understanding of your art? - How does physical creation influence your storytelling? A Different Perspective Practical experience may not replace formal study of narrative structure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Build Yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/build-yourself/) [Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theater/) [Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woods/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Unless we build theater and performing arts, then we're not going to be creating future patrons. We need to make it accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arden/unless-we-build-theater-and-performing-arts-then-we-re-not-going-to/) [Michael Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arden/) > [“The telephone is your theater, your stage. Your receiver is your curtain. When it goes up, make yourself a star.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-j-friedman/the-telephone-is-your-theater-your-stage-your-receiver-is-your/) Nancy J. Friedman > [I've had a very full career in the theater, on stage, in films and on television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-holbrook/i-ve-had-a-very-full-career-in-the-theater-on-stage-in-films-and-on/) [Hal Holbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-holbrook/) > [I learned more about who I am and how to be a great worker - and a great artistic worker - from doing student…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-plec/i-learned-more-about-who-i-am-and-how-to-be-a-great-worker-and-a/) [Julie Plec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-plec/) > [The truth is, unlike TV and film cameras, the theater stage doesn't add 10 pounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-ramirez/the-truth-is-unlike-tv-and-film-cameras-the-theater-stage-doesn-t-add/) [Sara Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-ramirez/) > [My dad used to work in the theater as a stage manager, production manager, and lighting designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mackay/my-dad-used-to-work-in-the-theater-as-a-stage-manager-production/) [George MacKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mackay/) > [My soul is a canvas stretched across four wooden corners and tacked with copper nails that sink into the edges of timber like teeth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keariene-muizz/my-soul-is-a-canvas-stretched-across-four-wooden-corners-and-tacked/) [Keariene Muizz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keariene-muizz/) > [I write a book of poems and then the characters won't go away so I write a play from that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-cavalieri/i-write-a-book-of-poems-and-then-the-characters-won-t-go-away-so-i/) [Grace Cavalieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-cavalieri/) > [I wish I could remember how to write a play. I can't remember how they happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-wish-i-could-remember-how-to-write-a-play-i-can-t-remember-how-they/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [It's wonderful to be able to sit down and write a play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/it-s-wonderful-to-be-able-to-sit-down-and-write-a-play/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [anyone who writes plays is unbelievably persistent, because there isn't a need in the world for plays. Somehow you internally have to feel a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-wasserstein/anyone-who-writes-plays-is-unbelievably-persistent-because-there-isn/) [Wendy Wasserstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-wasserstein/) > [I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-end-i-don-t-write-an-outline-i/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [GOOD AS NEW was born out of the idea of writing a play where the stakes were high and the collisions were of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hedges/good-as-new-was-born-out-of-the-idea-of-writing-a-play-where-the/) [Peter Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hedges/) > [I did a thing called 24 Hour Plays, a thing they do every year on Broadway. A bunch of playwrights and actors get together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-raab/i-did-a-thing-called-24-hour-plays-a-thing-they-do-every-year-on/) [Scott Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-raab/) > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More by Eugene O'Neill > [Life is perhaps best regarded as a bad dream between two awakenings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-perhaps-best-regarded-as-a-bad-dream-between-two-awakenings/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [We need above all to learn again to believe in the possibility of nobility of spirit in ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/we-need-above-all-to-learn-again-to-believe-in-the-possibility-of/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/the-past-is-the-present-isn-t-it-it-s-the-future-too/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“You can't be too careful about work. It's the most dangerous habit known to medical science.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/you-can-t-be-too-careful-about-work-it-s-the-most-dangerous-habit/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [Life is for each man a solitary cell whose walls are mirrors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/life-is-for-each-man-a-solitary-cell-whose-walls-are-mirrors/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“LARRY--(with increasing bitter intensity, more as if he were fighting with himself than with Hickey) I'm afraid to live, am I?--and even more afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/larry-with-increasing-bitter-intensity-more-as-if-he-were-fighting/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [The child was diseased at birth, stricken with a hereditary ill that only the most vital men are able to shake off. I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/the-child-was-diseased-at-birth-stricken-with-a-hereditary-ill-that/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [Drunken with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you will. But be drunken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/drunken-with-what-with-wine-with-poetry-or-with-virtue-as-you-will/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [“Now I have to lie, especially to myself. But how can you understand, when I don't myself. I've never understood anything about it, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/now-i-have-to-lie-especially-to-myself-but-how-can-you-understand/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [We are such things as rubbish is made of, so let's drink up and forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/we-are-such-things-as-rubbish-is-made-of-so-let-s-drink-up-and-forget/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/curiosity-killed-the-cat-but-satisfaction-brought-it-back/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [How thick the fog is. I can't see the road. All the people in the world could pass by and I would never know.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/how-thick-the-fog-is-i-can-t-see-the-road-all-the-people-in-the-world/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [I hate doctors! They'll do anything... to keep you coming to them. They'll sell their souls. What's worse, they'll sell yours, and you never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/i-hate-doctors-they-ll-do-anything-to-keep-you-coming-to-them-they-ll/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [Like a saint's vision of beatitude. Like the veil of things as they seem drawn back by an unseen hand. For a second you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/like-a-saint-s-vision-of-beatitude-like-the-veil-of-things-as-they/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) > [There is no present or future-only the past, happening over and over again-now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-o-neill/there-is-no-present-or-future-only-the-past-happening-over-and-over/) [Eugene O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) [Explore all 114 Eugene O'Neill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-o-neill/) ## More Canvas quotes > [The bigger the canvas, the better I do. I'm not so good at understated, kitchen-sink kinds of parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/the-bigger-the-canvas-the-better-i-do-i-m-not-so-good-at-understated/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/a-painter-should-begin-every-canvas-with-a-wash-of-black-because-all/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [You wind up creating from silence, like painting a picture on a blank canvas that could bring tears to somebody's eyes. As songwriters, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-atkins/you-wind-up-creating-from-silence-like-painting-a-picture-on-a-blank/) [Rodney Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-atkins/) > [What I did for my last act as a painter, if you call me a painter, was to photograph the weave of the canvas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-denes/what-i-did-for-my-last-act-as-a-painter-if-you-call-me-a-painter-was/) [Agnes Denes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-denes/) > [TV has no choice, but to rely on character, and everybody knows that. I love working in it. It's such a big canvas where,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-liman/tv-has-no-choice-but-to-rely-on-character-and-everybody-knows-that-i/) [Doug Liman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-liman/) > [The white T-shirt is like a blank canvas - eternally versatile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-enninful/the-white-t-shirt-is-like-a-blank-canvas-eternally-versatile/) [Edward Enninful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-enninful/) > [Life is an empty canvas- We've to paint it every Moment of our life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-laren/life-is-an-empty-canvas-we-ve-to-paint-it-every-moment-of-our-life/) elvis laren > [The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-that-you-make-instead-of-find-it/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Life's a canvas you're an artist, Paint a picture of a garden then go and marvel at the harvest you created from your conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-a-canvas-you-re-an-artist-paint-a-picture-of-a-garden-then-go/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Theres a blank canvas in front of you. You are the artist of your life, and you are free to paint any picture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishu/theres-a-blank-canvas-in-front-of-you-you-are-the-artist-of-your-life/) [Nishu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishu/) > [My training was that you fill in the canvas where it needs colour and polishing. You start with the words on the first night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-moody/my-training-was-that-you-fill-in-the-canvas-where-it-needs-colour-and/) [Ron Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-moody/) > [Great paintings have gradations, large and small... They serve to lift the subject off the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Gradations are an essential abstract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/great-paintings-have-gradations-large-and-small-they-serve-to-lift/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [The canvas upon which the artist paints is the spectator's mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/okakura-kakuzo/the-canvas-upon-which-the-artist-paints-is-the-spectator-s-mind/) [Okakura Kakuzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/okakura-kakuzo/) > [An empty canvas, apparently really empty, that says nothing and is without significance – almost dull, in fact – in reality, is crammed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wassily-kandinsky/an-empty-canvas-apparently-really-empty-that-says-nothing-and-is/) [Wassily Kandinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wassily-kandinsky/) > [Man offers himself to God. He stands before Him like the canvas before the painter or the marble before the sculptor. At the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-carrel/man-offers-himself-to-god-he-stands-before-him-like-the-canvas-before/) [Alexis Carrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-carrel/) [Browse all 796 Canvas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Take some wood and canvas and nails and things. Build yourself a theater, a stage, light it, learn about it. 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