Creativity Quote by Patti LuPone

Patti LuPone’s “Smile at a stranger. See what happens” reads like a dare disguised as a self-help tip, and that’s exactly why it lands. It’s not selling sweetness; it’s testing reality. The first sentence is a simple, almost stage-direction command: do the smallest possible social transgression (initiating warmth without permission). The second sentence sharpens it into an experiment, with a wink of menace. Not “it’ll brighten your day,” but “let’s find out.” That turn makes the line feel street-smart, not sentimental.

Coming from a performer, the subtext is theatrical: the smile is a cue, a gesture that changes the scene. LuPone’s career has been built on characters who weaponize charm and precision, who understand that the tiniest choice can tilt a room. Here, the “stranger” is the audience, the city, the world outside your circle. A smile becomes a low-stakes version of what performers do for a living: offer connection first and risk being ignored, misunderstood, or unexpectedly met.

Context matters because public life has gotten weirdly brittle: we’re trained to keep our faces neutral, our eyes down, our intentions unreadable. LuPone’s line pushes against that defensive posture while acknowledging it. “See what happens” contains the whole modern anxiety: maybe it’s kindness, maybe it’s awkwardness, maybe it’s danger, maybe it’s desire. The point is agency. You don’t wait for the world to be friendly; you audition it.