--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I try to interpret how people…" description: "\"I try to interpret how people subjectively experience life. Everyone has a great, horrible opera inside him. I feel that my plays, in a way, are very o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/sarah-ruhl-13926_assumption_i-try-to-interpret-how-people-subjective_1871852.jpg" --- # I try to interpret how people subjectively experience… ![“I try to interpret how people subjectively experience life. Everyone has a great, horrible opera inside him. I feel that my plays, in a way, are very old-fashioned. They’re pre-Freudian in the sense that the Greeks and Shakespeare worked with similar assumptions. Catharsis isn’t a wound being…” quote by Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/sarah-ruhl-13926_assumption_i-try-to-interpret-how-people-subjective_1871852.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/sarah-ruhl-13926_assumption_i-try-to-interpret-how-people-subjective_1871852.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/sarah-ruhl-13926_assumption_i-try-to-interpret-how-people-subjective_1871852.jpg) > “I try to interpret how people subjectively experience life. Everyone has a great, horrible opera inside him. I feel that my plays, in a way, are very old-fashioned. They’re pre-Freudian in the sense that the Greeks and Shakespeare worked with similar assumptions. Catharsis isn’t a wound being excavated from childhood.” [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on how individuals internally stage dramatic narratives, echoing ancient Greek and Shakespearean ideas, suggesting personal stories are timeless and pre‑psychoanalytic. **In simple terms:** People have inner dramas like operas, shaped by old ideas. Key Takeaway Recognize and explore your inner narratives. Themes psychology theatre human experience Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical literary psychological When to use this quote - personal therapy - creative writing - acting workshops - literary analysis Key Concepts pre‑Freudian catharsis subjective experience Questions to Reflect On - How do your personal “operas” influence daily choices? - Can recognizing pre‑Freudian patterns aid self‑understanding? A Different Perspective Modern psychology may oversimplify complex inner stories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Assumptions Catharsis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumptions-catharsis-2587290/) [Catharsis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catharsis/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Experience Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-life/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Freudian Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freudian-sense-351436/) [Greek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greek/) [Horrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Old fashioned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-fashioned/) [Opera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opera/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Pre Freudian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pre-freudian-2587291/) [Subjectively Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjectively-experience-2587292/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) ## Related quotes > [“...reason rationalizes reality for him (Dr. Nathan) as it does for the rest of us, in the Freudian sense of providing a more palatable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard-2/reason-rationalizes-reality-for-him-dr-nathan-as-it-does-for-the-rest/) [J.G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard-2/) > [Catharsis isn’t a wound being excavated from childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/catharsis-isn-t-a-wound-being-excavated-from-childhood/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end…crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis (nomads).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/life-goes-on-unmindful-of-beginning-end-crisis-or-catharsis-moving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [ Was there happiness at the end \[of the movie\], they wanted to know. If someone were to ask me today whether the story of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/was-there-happiness-at-the-end-of-the-movie-they-wanted-to-know-if/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [I still wrestle with the catharsis of acting. 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But I think that only those who acknowledge and respond to unseen worlds and energies can harness the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hyon-gyon/it-s-difficult-to-define-catharsis-but-i-think-that-only-those-who/) [Hyon Gyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hyon-gyon/) > [This living, this living, this living Was never a project of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/this-living-this-living-this-living-was-never-a-project-of-mine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [Music is my catharsis for that. It's an incredible blessing that I have this way of expressing myself through music and lyric, and I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimbra/music-is-my-catharsis-for-that-it-s-an-incredible-blessing-that-i/) [Kimbra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimbra/) > [A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself . . . with incidents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/a-tragedy-is-the-imitation-of-an-action-that-is-serious-and-also-as/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [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/) ## More by Sarah Ruhl > [“I hate parties. And a wedding is the biggest party of all. All the guests arrived and Orpheus is taking a shower. He's always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/i-hate-parties-and-a-wedding-is-the-biggest-party-of-all-all-the/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [Have you ever been so melancholy, that you wanted to fit in the palm of your beloved's hand? 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He had his music. He would get a funny look on his face and I would say what are you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/orpheus-never-liked-words-he-had-his-music-he-would-get-a-funny-look/) [sarah ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [“What silly little things sometimes take on meaning in life, suddenly, out of nowhere. And you know they're little nothings, and you laugh at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/what-silly-little-things-sometimes-take-on-meaning-in-life-suddenly/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [Being dead is the most airtight defense of one's own aesthetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/being-dead-is-the-most-airtight-defense-of-one-s-own-aesthetic/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [“Don't make a wall of glass between your play and the people watching. Don't forget they were once children, who enjoyed being read to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/don-t-make-a-wall-of-glass-between-your-play-and-the-people-watching/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) > [Plays are architecture, and you can make them stand in many ways that are hard to describe. And, I think, in our limited ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ruhl/plays-are-architecture-and-you-can-make-them-stand-in-many-ways-that/) [Sarah Ruhl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) [Explore all 48 Sarah Ruhl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ruhl/) ## More Assumption quotes > [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. 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That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I try to interpret how people subjectively experience life. Everyone has a great, horrible opera inside him. I feel that my plays, in a way, are very old-fashioned. They’re pre-Freudian in the sense that the Greeks and Shakespeare worked with similar assumptions. 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