--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There we were - demented children mincing…" description: "\"There we were - demented children mincing about in clothes that no one ever wore, speaking as no man ever spoke, swearing love in wigs and rhymed coupl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/tom-stoppard-437_acting_there-we-were-demented-children-mincing_1749025.jpg" --- # There we were - demented children mincing about in clothes… ![“There we were - demented children mincing about in clothes that no one ever wore, speaking as no man ever spoke, swearing love in wigs and rhymed couplets, killing each other with wooden swords, hollow protestations of faith hurled after empty promises of vengeance - and every gesture, every pose…” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/tom-stoppard-437_acting_there-we-were-demented-children-mincing_1749025.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/tom-stoppard-437_acting_there-we-were-demented-children-mincing_1749025.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/tom-stoppard-437_acting_there-we-were-demented-children-mincing_1749025.jpg) > “There we were - demented children mincing about in clothes that no one ever wore, speaking as no man ever spoke, swearing love in wigs and rhymed couplets, killing each other with wooden swords, hollow protestations of faith hurled after empty promises of vengeance - and every gesture, every pose, vanishing into the thin unpopulated air. We ransomed our dignity to the clouds, and the uncomprehending birds listened. Don't you see?! We're actors - we're the opposite of people!” [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A chaotic scene of youthful rebellion and absurdity reflects how people perform roles, losing authentic self in performative acts. **In simple terms:** People act like actors, losing real identity. Key Takeaway Be aware of performative behavior. Themes identity performance absurdity rebellion Mood critical ironic Type theatrical philosophical When to use this quote - youth culture - political protest - artistic expression Key Concepts existentialism theatre social critique Questions to Reflect On - What masks do we wear in daily life? - How does absurdity reveal truth? A Different Perspective The satire may overlook genuine suffering behind the performance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) [Actors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actors/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Couplets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couplets/) [Dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dignity/) [Empty promises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empty-promises/) [Gestures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gestures/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Swearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swearing/) [Vengeance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vengeance/) ## Related quotes > [We're actors. We're the opposite of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-re-actors-we-re-the-opposite-of-people/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I am the opposite of other people. I don't cry when I am upset. I cry when I am happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-lever/i-am-the-opposite-of-other-people-i-don-t-cry-when-i-am-upset-i-cry/) [Johnny Lever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-lever/) > [People had said to me New York is kind of cutthroat and people walk past you on the street. I find it the opposite.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lampard/people-had-said-to-me-new-york-is-kind-of-cutthroat-and-people-walk/) [Frank Lampard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lampard/) > [Since I know how crazy this business is, I do the opposite of what I see other people doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-lewis/since-i-know-how-crazy-this-business-is-i-do-the-opposite-of-what-i/) [Emmanuel Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-lewis/) > [Ideally, you have a company of actors who care more about the product than they do about themselves. In my experience, actors who believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-timothy/ideally-you-have-a-company-of-actors-who-care-more-about-the-product/) [Christopher Timothy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-timothy/) > [This soul, or life within us, by no means agrees with the life outside us. If one has the courage to ask her what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/this-soul-or-life-within-us-by-no-means-agrees-with-the-life-outside/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I typically do the opposite of what people think I am going to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-ward/i-typically-do-the-opposite-of-what-people-think-i-am-going-to-do/) [Andre Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-ward/) > [ The artist has to be exactly the opposite \[of people singing the song, I've gotta be Me,\] and transcend himself as he makes judgements. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romare-bearden/the-artist-has-to-be-exactly-the-opposite-of-people-singing-the-song/) [Romare Bearden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romare-bearden/) > [To me the church's problem would be a hundred times worse if you felt everyone has written the church off, they don't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-lowney/to-me-the-church-s-problem-would-be-a-hundred-times-worse-if-you-felt/) [Chris Lowney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-lowney/) > [I don't like the fact that people are supposed to think horror movies have a way things should go. I always try to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-zombie/i-don-t-like-the-fact-that-people-are-supposed-to-think-horror-movies/) [Rob Zombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-zombie/) > [There's that stigma about New Yorkers, how they're so mean, but in my experience it was quite the opposite. People were very genuine and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-kitsch/there-s-that-stigma-about-new-yorkers-how-they-re-so-mean-but-in-my/) [Taylor Kitsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-kitsch/) > [Then, at the last and only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/then-at-the-last-and-only-couplet-fraught-with-some-unmeaning-thing/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [I like ghosts. I like friends. I like couplets. I like the idea of a mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dara-wier/i-like-ghosts-i-like-friends-i-like-couplets-i-like-the-idea-of-a/) [Dara Wier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dara-wier/) > [I came to writing mysteries through poetry and still think that a well-constructed mystery is very much like a well-constructed sonnet. Both are artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-maron/i-came-to-writing-mysteries-through-poetry-and-still-think-that-a/) [Margaret Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-maron/) > [Shakespeare wrote his sonnets within a strict discipline, fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, rhyming in three quatrains and a couplet. Were his sonnets dull?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/shakespeare-wrote-his-sonnets-within-a-strict-discipline-fourteen/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) ## More by Tom Stoppard > [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/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The universe is deterministic all right, just like Newton said, I mean it's trying to be, but the only thing going wrong is people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-universe-is-deterministic-all-right-just-like-newton-said-i-mean/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/dying-is-not-romantic-and-death-is-not-a-game-which-will-soon-be-over/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I'm not interested in clothes; I just like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-m-not-interested-in-clothes-i-just-like-them/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-10-years-of-my-life-3-times-a-day-i-thanked-the-lord-for-what-i/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) [Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More Acting 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/) > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [Acting is a grind, just like music is a grind. Sometimes it takes longer than what you can give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/acting-is-a-grind-just-like-music-is-a-grind-sometimes-it-takes/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [It was only when I started making short films in college and I was looking for girls to play the me-ish parts that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/it-was-only-when-i-started-making-short-films-in-college-and-i-was/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [Actors don't hate acting. Most people don't hate acting! Whether you're a child mucking around with your friends or a grown up being paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-hewson/actors-don-t-hate-acting-most-people-don-t-hate-acting-whether-you-re/) [Liv Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-hewson/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [Once I committed to acting, this has been it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-hudson/once-i-committed-to-acting-this-has-been-it/) [Ernie Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-hudson/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [The show was number one in the ratings, Gordon Russell was our head writer, the story lines were magnificent and the acting most exciting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-storm/the-show-was-number-one-in-the-ratings-gordon-russell-was-our-head/) [Michael Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-storm/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. I do believe that young adults go to college to learn things, and that this process will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-weingarten/i-do-not-believe-in-public-shaming-i-do-believe-that-young-adults-go/) [Gene Weingarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-weingarten/) > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) [Browse all 12,062 Acting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There we were - demented children mincing about in clothes that no one ever wore, speaking as no man ever spoke, swearing love in wigs and rhymed couplets, killing each other with wooden swords, hollow protestations of faith hurled after empty promises of vengeance - and every gesture, every pose, vanishing into the thin unpopulated air. 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