O Black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?
James Weldon JohnsonRead
Acting is standing up naked and turning around very slowly.
Interpretation
Acting involves complete vulnerability and openness to the audience's scrutiny.
This quote by Rosalind Russell captures the essence of acting as a deeply personal and exposing experience. To act is to present oneself authentically, laying bare emotions and thoughts in front of an audience, demanding a level of courage and commitment that mirrors the vulnerability of standing naked in front of others. It reflects how true artistry requires not just skill, but also a willingness to be seen and judged.
In practice
During a drama class, a teacher might say this quote to encourage students to embrace their vulnerabilities.
O Black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?
On of the reasons that I wanted to study literature was because it exposed everything. Writers looked for secrets that had never been mined. Every writer has to invent their own magical language, in order to describe the indescribable. They might seem to be writing in French, English, or Spanish, but really they were writing in the language of butterflies, crows, and hanged men.
To be a great painter means to be a great poet: someone who transcends the limits of his language.
Milton, Madam, was a genius that could cut a Colossus from a rock; but could not carve heads upon cherry-stones.
In some ways, my gift for music and writing was born out of tragedy, really, and loss.
I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I don't mean only that I have to know what happens. I mean that I have to hear the actual sentences. I have to know what atmosphere the words convey.
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