A bad play folds and is forgotten, but in pictures we don't bury our dead. When you think it's out of your system, your daughter sees it on television and says, My father is an idiot." - Meaning and context.">
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As quoted in Culture and Commitment, 1929-1945 (1973) by Warren Susman, p. 180
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A bad play folds and is forgotten, but in pictures we don't bury our dead. When you think it's out of your system, your daughter sees it on television and says, My father is an idiot.

— Billy Wilder

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "A bad play folds and is forgotten, but in pictures we don't bury our dead. When you think it's out of your system, your daughter sees it on television and says, My father is an idiot." in the context of "As quoted in Culture and Commitment, 1929-1945 (1973) by Warren Susman, p. 180" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Billy Wilder" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Billy Wilder#television#forgotten#pictures#daughter#system#father#folds#idiot#play#dont#bury
Billy Wilder

About Billy Wilder

Samuel "Billy" Wilder (22 June 1906 – 27 March 2002) was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films.