Knowledge is freedom and ignorance is slavery
Miles DavisRead
I don't pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got is myself...and I'm too vain to play anything I think is bad.
Interpretation
Focus on self-assessment rather than external criticism.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-critique and self-awareness over the opinions of others. Miles Davis suggests that he values his own judgment about his work more than those of critics, highlighting that one's self-standards can often be the most demanding yet essential benchmark for personal growth and artistic integrity.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing your passions, one could quote Miles Davis to encourage others to trust their own judgment.
Knowledge is freedom and ignorance is slavery
Joao Gilberto on guitar could read a newspaper and sound good.
I was minding my own business when something says to me, "you ought to blow trumpet." I have just been trying ever since.
When the band plays fast, you play slow; when the band plays slow, you play fast.
Don't play what's there, play what's not there.
My ego only needs a good rhythm section
If you wish for light, Be ready to receive light.
The mintage of wisdom is to know that rest is rust, and that real life is love, laughter, and work.
Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect praise or reward.
Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away.
I do not preach doubtingly, for I do not live doubtingly.
It's not that, living in Pakistan, I feel an enormous constraint on how I can write and what I can say; rather, I recognize that one has to navigate these things... Am I aware of things that one could say that would be risky or that could be dangerous? Certainly I'm aware of those things.
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