I always tell students that you've got to be practical. You do not need a dream. You need a purpose, something you can wake up to in the morning when the dream is dissipated.
Interpretation
Having a purpose is more important than merely dreaming; it provides motivation for daily life.
Twyla Tharp emphasizes the importance of practicality over idealism in this quote. While dreams can be inspiring, they often fade away in the face of reality. What truly sustains us and gives our lives direction is a clear purpose—something we can focus on and strive towards every day, especially when the initial excitement of our dreams begins to fade.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a graduation ceremony to motivate students to find their purpose.
Do I watch dancers as people? Yes, absolutely. Do I watch really good dancers for specifically who they are? Absolutely, because how they move best and how they look best is going to be most familiar to them, and not necessarily to me.
I am still pushing the edge of what my body can do.
No one is born with skill. It is developed through exercise, through repetition, through a blend of learning and reflection that's both painstaking and rewarding. And it takes time.
Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft. Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering. Combining the two is the essence of the creative life.
I grew up in a drive-in theater, from the time I was 8, working in a snack bar watching four features every week. It was silent theater in the sense that this was a drive-in, which meant that I often saw the films going with no sound. But I learned to tell stories through action.
Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft.
We are tired of aristocratic explanations in Harvard words.
To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education - literacy, both verbal and numerical, and communication skills.
Learn to listen with your fingers.
I was learning, as I did in the Ministry of Defense. I never knew, but I always learned.
When the average child is now spending nearly eight hours a day in front of some kind of screen, many of their opinions and preferences are being shaped by the marketing campaigns you all create. And that’s where the problem comes in.. ... And I’m here today with one simple request - and that is to do even more and move even faster to market responsibly to our kids.
The unfinished character of human beings and the transformational character of reality necessitate that education be an ongoing activity.
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