Daily Inspiration Quote by Richard O'Brien

"Life's too short to be working with divas" lands like a dress-rehearsal note you wish someone had said out loud months ago. Coming from Richard O'Brien, whose own career is built on theatrical excess and gleeful performance, the line isn’t anti-drama in the artistic sense; it’s anti-drama in the workplace sense. He’s drawing a sharp line between flamboyance onstage and narcissism off it, between charisma and entitlement.

The intent is practical, almost weary: protect the finite resource that is your time and attention. "Divas" here isn’t really about women or even about celebrity. It’s shorthand for the person who treats collaboration as a hostage situation, who turns every decision into a referendum on their importance. O'Brien’s phrasing makes the moral argument feel like common sense. There’s no sermon, just triage.

The subtext is about creative ecosystems. Theatre, film, and TV are assembly-line arts disguised as personal genius. Everyone’s work depends on everyone else showing up, staying flexible, and not poisoning the room. By invoking life's shortness, he reframes professionalism as an ethical choice: you don’t owe your days to someone else’s ego.

Context matters: O'Brien came up in worlds where "temperament" has historically been rewarded, even romanticized. This quote punctures that mythology. It suggests the real badge of experience isn’t tolerating tyrants; it’s realizing you don’t have to.