An Actor Prepares

by Constantin Stanislavski

You can kill the King without a sword, and you can light the fire without a match. What needs to burn is your imagination.’

‘The people who talk most about exalted things are the very ones, for the most part, who have no attributes to raise them to high levels. They talk about art and creation with false emotions, in an indistinct and involved way. True artists, on the contrary, speak in simple and comprehensible terms. Think about this and also about the fact that, in certain roles, you could become a fine actor and a useful contributor to art.’

‘Our ideal should always be to strive for what is eternal in art. that which will never die, which will always remain young and close to human hearts. ‘Our goal should be the heights of accomplishment built by the great classics. Study them and learn to use living emotional material for their rendering.