--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't direct the plays of others." description: "\"I don't direct the plays of others.\" — Israel Horovitz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg" --- # I don't direct the plays of others. ![“I don't direct the plays of others.” quote by Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg) > “I don't direct the plays of others.” [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One cannot control others’ actions; influence comes from guidance, not domination. **In simple terms:** You can’t direct others’ lives. Key Takeaway Focus on influencing, not controlling. Themes leadership autonomy influence Mood thoughtful respectful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - coaching - mentoring - team building Key Concepts ethics psychology management Questions to Reflect On - How can you inspire without imposing? - What boundaries respect others’ agency? A Different Perspective People may resist external influence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Direct Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct-plays-2698488/) [Don Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-direct-2698489/) [Others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/others/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plays/) ## Related quotes > [I don't act, I don't direct, I don't design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-don-t-act-i-don-t-direct-i-don-t-design/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I don't direct movies for a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-lee-jones/i-don-t-direct-movies-for-a-living/) [Tommy Lee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-lee-jones/) > [Eventually, everyone said, Why don't you direct? It would save time. And that's how it started.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-joan-hart/eventually-everyone-said-why-don-t-you-direct-it-would-save-time-and/) [Melissa Joan Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-joan-hart/) > [What Lou Tyrrell creates when he has a theater is a birthing center for new plays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/what-lou-tyrrell-creates-when-he-has-a-theater-is-a-birthing-center/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [From being a writer of plays, it was not that surprising that somebody thought of giving me a job as an actor. After I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-shawn/from-being-a-writer-of-plays-it-was-not-that-surprising-that-somebody/) [Wallace Shawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-shawn/) > [I have no directing ambition whatsoever. 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I've retired from those plays. I think it's bad manners to invite people to sit in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nighy/i-don-t-do-plays-without-jokes-anymore-i-ve-retired-from-those-plays/) [Bill Nighy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nighy/) ## More by Israel Horovitz > [Lou Tyrrell has created a theatre that is a safe haven for playwrights, a birthing center for new American writing. Arts Garage has created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/lou-tyrrell-has-created-a-theatre-that-is-a-safe-haven-for/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [“Art has no answers, only solutions, and resolutions... Art has only vision and revision... Art has only hope and more hope... again and again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/art-has-no-answers-only-solutions-and-resolutions-art-has-only-vision/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [Gloucester's not some chi-chi tourist town. It's a working-class seaport: a no-kidding-around down-and-dirty place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/gloucester-s-not-some-chi-chi-tourist-town-it-s-a-working-class/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [The Holocaust story has been told and retold so many times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/the-holocaust-story-has-been-told-and-retold-so-many-times/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [I was not to the manor born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-was-not-to-the-manor-born/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [I have seen dozens upon dozens of productions of 'Lebensraum' in dozens of languages around the globe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-have-seen-dozens-upon-dozens-of-productions-of-lebensraum-in-dozens/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [What Lou Tyrrell creates when he has a theater is a birthing center for new plays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/what-lou-tyrrell-creates-when-he-has-a-theater-is-a-birthing-center/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [If work isn't rooted in comedy, people will turn from it, or they'll use it like soap opera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/if-work-isn-t-rooted-in-comedy-people-will-turn-from-it-or-they-ll/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [I parle Francais like a Spanish cow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-parle-francais-like-a-spanish-cow/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [Radical politics tend to be simple minded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/radical-politics-tend-to-be-simple-minded/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [L.A. is so focused on TV and film that theater is kind of an arcane sport. People look at you like you're doing something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/l-a-is-so-focused-on-tv-and-film-that-theater-is-kind-of-an-arcane/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [Any actor, any playwright who's worked a life in the theater knows how to do things cheaply and quickly. It's just all by necessity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/any-actor-any-playwright-who-s-worked-a-life-in-the-theater-knows-how/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [I felt no need to write a German-bashing play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-felt-no-need-to-write-a-german-bashing-play/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [I grew up in Wakefield, Mass., and there were only a couple of Jewish families in the town.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-grew-up-in-wakefield-mass-and-there-were-only-a-couple-of-jewish/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) > [It's not unusual for people to like Florida in the winter. I'm not a great tourist. I like coming down to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/it-s-not-unusual-for-people-to-like-florida-in-the-winter-i-m-not-a/) [Israel Horovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) [Explore all 39 Israel Horovitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/) ## More Direct quotes > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody can direct a picture once they know the fundamentals. Directing is not a mystery, it's not an art. The main thing about directing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ford/anybody-can-direct-a-picture-once-they-know-the-fundamentals/) [John Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ford/) > [The method of magnitude estimation provided a direct measure of sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-smith-stevens/the-method-of-magnitude-estimation-provided-a-direct-measure-of/) [Stanley Smith Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-smith-stevens/) > [A place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/a-place-has-almost-the-shyness-of-a-person-with-strangers-and-its/) [Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I'm currently trying to direct my own material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-skerritt/i-m-currently-trying-to-direct-my-own-material/) [Tom Skerritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-skerritt/) > [By the time you get into other kinds of music - R&B, country, or whatever - it becomes something that's romantic. It becomes something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/by-the-time-you-get-into-other-kinds-of-music-r-b-country-or-whatever/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [I'm too direct and too unsparingly impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-m-too-direct-and-too-unsparingly-impatient/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. 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Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) [Browse all 3,391 Direct quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't direct the plays of others.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Israel Horovitz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Direct" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/israel-horovitz-16735_direct_i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others-26964_2696407.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't direct the plays of others.” — Israel Horovitz", "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": "Israel Horovitz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-horovitz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't direct the plays of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-horovitz/i-don-t-direct-the-plays-of-others/#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 } } ] } ```