Remember this practical piece of advice: Never come into the theatre with mud on your feet. Leave your dust and dirt outside. Check your little worries, squabbles, petty difficulties with your outside clothing - all the things that ruin your life and draw your attention away from your art - at the door.
Constantin StanislavskiNever allow yourself externally to portray anything that you have not inwardly experienced and which is not even interesting to you.
Constantin StanislavskiThe direct effect on our mind is achieved by the words, the text, the thought, which arouse consideration. Our will is directly affected by the super-objective, by other objectives, by a through line of action. Our feelings are directly worked upon by tempo-rhythm.
Constantin StanislavskiGratuitous cruelty borders on the pathological, psychotic and that becomes uninteresting because there is no choice.
Constantin StanislavskiThe main difference between the art of the actor and all other arts is that every other [non-performing] artist may create whenever he is in the mood of inspiration. But the artist of the stage must be the master of his own inspiration, and must know how to call it forth at the hour announced on the posters of the theatre. This is the chief secret of our art.
Constantin Stanislavski