--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A play should give you something to think…" description: "\"A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good.\" — T. S. Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/t-s-eliot-633_actor_a-play-should-give-you-something-to-thin_2815851.png" --- # A play should give you something to think about. When I… ![“A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good.” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/t-s-eliot-633_actor_a-play-should-give-you-something-to-thin_2815851.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/t-s-eliot-633_actor_a-play-should-give-you-something-to-thin_2815851.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec2/t-s-eliot-633_actor_a-play-should-give-you-something-to-thin_2815851.png) > “A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good.” [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A play that is instantly understood may lack depth; true art invites ongoing interpretation. **In simple terms:** Great art resists immediate comprehension. Key Takeaway Seek works that challenge you over time. Themes art interpretation depth Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - theatre criticism - literary analysis - personal growth Key Concepts aesthetic theory critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - Do you prefer art that explains itself quickly? - Can simplicity be a virtue? A Different Perspective Some audiences enjoy immediate clarity; not all value ambiguity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Play Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play-think-587232/) [Play Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play-understand-933769/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Think Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-play/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think it's about who you play, I think it's about who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-saban/i-don-t-think-it-s-about-who-you-play-i-think-it-s-about-who-you-are/) [Nick Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-saban/) > [There's never been a time on the field I thought to myself, 'Oh man, we're 0-4; Oh man, we're 2-6.' While you play, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-clark/there-s-never-been-a-time-on-the-field-i-thought-to-myself-oh-man-we/) [Ryan Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-clark/) > [You can't think and play. If you think about what you're playing the playing becomes stilted. You have to just focus on the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-pass/you-can-t-think-and-play-if-you-think-about-what-you-re-playing-the/) [Joe Pass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-pass/) > [One should always think of what one is about; when one is learning, one should not think of play; and when one is at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/one-should-always-think-of-what-one-is-about-when-one-is-learning-one/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [I've always wanted to have a career that my kids would be able to see me play and understand what I did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cris-carter/i-ve-always-wanted-to-have-a-career-that-my-kids-would-be-able-to-see/) [Cris Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cris-carter/) > [“If I program ’ware with an Anglo-Ubiq word and play it, you understand it,” Scile said. “If I do the same with a word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/if-i-program-ware-with-an-anglo-ubiq-word-and-play-it-you-understand/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) > [I've got to warm up to warm up and then play. I understand that now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-oden/i-ve-got-to-warm-up-to-warm-up-and-then-play-i-understand-that-now/) [Greg Oden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-oden/) > [I'm not a guy who can sit there and look at a diagram of a play and understand it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-palmer/i-m-not-a-guy-who-can-sit-there-and-look-at-a-diagram-of-a-play-and/) [Carson Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-palmer/) > [At the end of the day everyone wants to play - and I think everyone believes they should play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reece-james/at-the-end-of-the-day-everyone-wants-to-play-and-i-think-everyone/) [Reece James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reece-james/) > [You always want to reach and play something that you think is a little bit out of your bounds, that you don't think you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-gunn/you-always-want-to-reach-and-play-something-that-you-think-is-a/) [Billy Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-gunn/) > [I just play. I'm not one to think about it. If I get one assist and we win, that's great. 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The coaches are the ones who see it the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-ginobili/sometimes-you-play-and-you-think-you-re-doing-one-thing-and-then-you/) [Manu Ginobili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-ginobili/) ## More by T. S. Eliot > [The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-nobel-is-a-ticket-to-one-s-own-funeral-no-one-has-ever-done/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Dear Mother, I am getting on nicely in my work at the bank, and like it ... I want to find out something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/dear-mother-i-am-getting-on-nicely-in-my-work-at-the-bank-and-like-it/) [T. S. 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Given total freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/when-forced-to-work-within-a-strict-framework-the-imagination-is/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/honest-criticism-and-sensitive-appreciation-are-directed-not-upon-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-had-the-experience-but-we-missed-the-meaning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The end is in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-end-is-in-the-beginning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You have learned enough to see that cats are much like you and me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/you-have-learned-enough-to-see-that-cats-are-much-like-you-and-me/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-strange-that-words-are-so-inadequate-yet-like-the-asthmatic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Every end is a beginning...And every beginning is an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/every-end-is-a-beginning-and-every-beginning-is-an-end/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) [Explore all 433 T. S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## 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. 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