A Screenwriter's Life in Words

"In my opinion, modern writers have lost the sense of what a play should be. A drama is not meant to tell us a man's whole life, but to place him in a situation and tie up his destiny in such a way that his entire being will be clear from the manner in which he unties the knot! Yes, I have critiziced Shakespeare. But at least, in his plays, every character acts, and it is clear why he acts as he does...."

-Leo Tolstoy in a heated conversation with Anton Chekhov on his idea of the theater.