--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I attacked those Western playwrights who…" description: "\"I attacked those Western playwrights who use their influence and affluence to preach to the world the nihilistic doctrine that life is pointless and ir..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/kenneth-tynan-13245_affluence_i-attacked-those-western-playwrights-who_1259860.jpg" --- # I attacked those Western playwrights who use their… ![“I attacked those Western playwrights who use their influence and affluence to preach to the world the nihilistic doctrine that life is pointless and irrationally destructive, and that there is nothing we can do about it. Until everyone is fed, clothed, housed and taught, until human beings have…” quote by Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/kenneth-tynan-13245_affluence_i-attacked-those-western-playwrights-who_1259860.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/kenneth-tynan-13245_affluence_i-attacked-those-western-playwrights-who_1259860.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/kenneth-tynan-13245_affluence_i-attacked-those-western-playwrights-who_1259860.jpg) > “I attacked those Western playwrights who use their influence and affluence to preach to the world the nihilistic doctrine that life is pointless and irrationally destructive, and that there is nothing we can do about it. Until everyone is fed, clothed, housed and taught, until human beings have equal leisure to contemplate the overwhelming fact of mortality, we should not (I argued) indulge in the luxury of "privileged despair."” [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that privileged despair is unjustified when basic needs are unmet and leisure is scarce, urging societal equality before existential angst. **In simple terms:** Privilege should not excuse nihilism. Key Takeaway Address basic needs before existential concerns. Themes equality existentialism social justice privilege despair Mood critical reflective urgent Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - policy reform - education access - housing initiatives - public health - social welfare Key Concepts Human needs nihilism ethical responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance material provision with existential fulfillment? - What role does leisure play in confronting mortality? A Different Perspective Even with equality, individuals may still confront meaninglessness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affluence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affluence/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Feds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feds/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Leisure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leisure/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) [Nihilistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nihilistic/) [Playwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playwright/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“This is what our essential being-in-the-world is – nihilistic annihilation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arvydas-liogeris/this-is-what-our-essential-being-in-the-world-is-nihilistic/) Arvydas Šliogeris > [“The nihilistic doctrine is stated not only in the various Prajnya-sutras (the books having Prajnya-paramita in their titles), but also in almost all Mahayana…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/the-nihilistic-doctrine-is-stated-not-only-in-the-various-prajnya/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [I am religious by nature, I'm not a nihilist. I don't follow, I don't even know what the tenets of things like deconstructionism are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/i-am-religious-by-nature-i-m-not-a-nihilist-i-don-t-follow-i-don-t/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [I don't like being pessimistic. I don't like living my life with a nihilistic mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lowery/i-don-t-like-being-pessimistic-i-don-t-like-living-my-life-with-a/) [David Lowery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lowery/) > [I have a nihilistic attitude so it's like, the new gay... it's popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/i-have-a-nihilistic-attitude-so-it-s-like-the-new-gay-it-s-popular/) [Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/) > [“In all of its operations, cinema ceaselessly strives, and fails, to make present a world hopelessly beyond grasp. For this reason cinema is, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marmysz/in-all-of-its-operations-cinema-ceaselessly-strives-and-fails-to-make/) [John Marmysz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marmysz/) > [I think people have always misinterpreted my self-destructive nature as nihilistic, because if you don't care about the world, you can't create art. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-think-people-have-always-misinterpreted-my-self-destructive-nature/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [“On this rock we had built our church. We had founded our idealism on the most nihilistic implications of science, our socialism on crass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-macleod/on-this-rock-we-had-built-our-church-we-had-founded-our-idealism-on/) [Ken MacLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-macleod/) > [“The hope that fuels the pursuit of endless economic growth – that billions of consumers in India & China will one day enjoy the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/the-hope-that-fuels-the-pursuit-of-endless-economic-growth-that/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [“Nothing was holy to us. Our movement was neither mystical, communistic nor anarchistic. All of these movements had some sort of program, but ours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-was-holy-to-us-our-movement-was-neither-mystical-communistic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The punk scene in NY was so gritty and nihilistic & I was like ooh I want to do that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-hagedorn/the-punk-scene-in-ny-was-so-gritty-and-nihilistic-i-was-like-ooh-i/) [Jessica Hagedorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-hagedorn/) > [But it's not only: What are you going to do about touring, it's: What are you going to do with your life? Is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/but-it-s-not-only-what-are-you-going-to-do-about-touring-it-s-what/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ “Zen\[FN#195\] is neither idealistic nor nihilistic. Zen makes use of the nihilistic idea of Hinayana Buddhism, and calls its students' attention to the change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/zen-fn-195-is-neither-idealistic-nor-nihilistic-zen-makes-use-of-the/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [I personally don't live a nihilistic life, I don't have any use for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-lee-jones/i-personally-don-t-live-a-nihilistic-life-i-don-t-have-any-use-for-it/) [Tommy Lee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-lee-jones/) > [I don't find R.E.M. to be nihilistic. There is a constant undertone of joyous optimism. I'm not going to kill myself to Patti Smith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/i-don-t-find-r-e-m-to-be-nihilistic-there-is-a-constant-undertone-of/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) ## More by Kenneth Tynan > [Art and ideology often interact on each other; but the plain fact is that both spring from a common source. Both draw on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/art-and-ideology-often-interact-on-each-other-but-the-plain-fact-is/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [I doubt if I could love anyone who did not wish to see Look Back in Anger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/i-doubt-if-i-could-love-anyone-who-did-not-wish-to-see-look-back-in/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [No theater could sanely flourish until there was an umbilical connection between what was happening on the stage and what was happening in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/no-theater-could-sanely-flourish-until-there-was-an-umbilical/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [What, when drunk, one sees in other women, one sees in Garbo sober.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/what-when-drunk-one-sees-in-other-women-one-sees-in-garbo-sober/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Pearl is a disease of oysters. Levant is a disease of Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/pearl-is-a-disease-of-oysters-levant-is-a-disease-of-hollywood/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Not content to have the audience in the palm of his hand, he goes one further and clenches his fist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/not-content-to-have-the-audience-in-the-palm-of-his-hand-he-goes-one/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [A good many inconveniences attend playgoing in any large city, but the greatest of them is usually the play itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/a-good-many-inconveniences-attend-playgoing-in-any-large-city-but-the/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Drama criticism ... is a self-knowing account of the way in which one's consciousness has been modified during an evening at the theatre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/drama-criticism-is-a-self-knowing-account-of-the-way-in-which-one-s/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Show me a congenital eavesdropper with the instincts of a Peeping Tom and I will show you the making of a dramatist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/show-me-a-congenital-eavesdropper-with-the-instincts-of-a-peeping-tom/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [In most writers, style is a welcome, an invitation, a letting down of the drawbridge between the artist and the world. Shaw had no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/in-most-writers-style-is-a-welcome-an-invitation-a-letting-down-of/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [When you've seen all of Ionesco's plays, I felt at the end, you've seen one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/when-you-ve-seen-all-of-ionesco-s-plays-i-felt-at-the-end-you-ve-seen/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [I hope I never need to believe in God. It would be an awful confession of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/i-hope-i-never-need-to-believe-in-god-it-would-be-an-awful-confession/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Pornography is writing that seeks primarily, even exclusively, to bring about sexual stimulation. This can be done crudely or delicately. In the former case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/pornography-is-writing-that-seeks-primarily-even-exclusively-to-bring/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [There, standing at the piano, was the original good time who had been had by all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/there-standing-at-the-piano-was-the-original-good-time-who-had-been/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) > [Among the classic tastes: bread sauce, Nuits St Georges Les Perdrix 1962, Worcestershire sauce, Toblerone and Bovril.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-tynan/among-the-classic-tastes-bread-sauce-nuits-st-georges-les-perdrix/) [Kenneth Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) [Explore all 51 Kenneth Tynan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-tynan/) ## More Affluence quotes > [In our own time the whole of Greece has been subject to a low birth rate and a general decrease of the population, owing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/polybius/in-our-own-time-the-whole-of-greece-has-been-subject-to-a-low-birth/) [Polybius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/polybius/) > [The secret of achieving prosperity lies in so vividly keeping yourself centered in the inner focus of affluence that you literally exude the consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-butterworth/the-secret-of-achieving-prosperity-lies-in-so-vividly-keeping/) [Eric Butterworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-butterworth/) > [Affluence = abundant flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-butterworth/affluence-abundant-flow/) [Eric Butterworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-butterworth/) > [“If I am to choose between integrity and wealth, I will go for integrity because I believe that lack of integrity is the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/if-i-am-to-choose-between-integrity-and-wealth-i-will-go-for/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > ['Playboy' made the good life a reality for me and made it the subject matter of my paintings - not affluence and luxury as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/playboy-made-the-good-life-a-reality-for-me-and-made-it-the-subject/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [Affluence creates poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/affluence-creates-poverty/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The primary cause of disorder and lawlessness today, as throughout history, is the poverty of the many in contrast to the affluence of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-o-kelso/the-primary-cause-of-disorder-and-lawlessness-today-as-throughout/) [Louis O. Kelso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-o-kelso/) > [To generate any appreciable degree of long-term affluence requires scrupulous honesty and the willingness to honor long-term agreements with employers, suppliers, partners, and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sheaffer/to-generate-any-appreciable-degree-of-long-term-affluence-requires/) [Robert Sheaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sheaffer/) > [“Imam Hussein Ibn Ali al-Shaheed was once asked: what is affluence? He said : Decreasing your wishes , and being satisfied with what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/imam-hussein-ibn-ali-al-shaheed-was-once-asked-what-is-affluence-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I don't want to be around people who accept me as is, in my unrefined state of becoming. I consistently want people around me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-l-bates/i-don-t-want-to-be-around-people-who-accept-me-as-is-in-my-unrefined/) [Brandi L. Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-l-bates/) > [Large department stores, with their luxuriant abundance of canned goods, foods, and clothing, are like the primary landscape and the geometrical locus of affluence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/large-department-stores-with-their-luxuriant-abundance-of-canned/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Owning a home is a keystone of wealth - both financial affluence and emotional security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/owning-a-home-is-a-keystone-of-wealth-both-financial-affluence-and/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [“Don’t let affluence make you impoverished of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-bloom/don-t-let-affluence-make-you-impoverished-of-god/) [Jon Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-bloom/) > [“Drama does not just walk into our lives. Either we create it, invite it, or associate with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-l-bates/drama-does-not-just-walk-into-our-lives-either-we-create-it-invite-it/) [Brandi L. Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandi-l-bates/) > [There is wealth but no wellbeing. What are you going to do with this wealth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/there-is-wealth-but-no-wellbeing-what-are-you-going-to-do-with-this/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) [Browse all 181 Affluence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affluence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I attacked those Western playwrights who use their influence and affluence to preach to the world the nihilistic doctrine that life is pointless and irrationally destructive, and that there is nothing we can do about it. 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