The body says what words cannot.
Martha GrahamRead
If I can't dance, I don't care if my dances are ever done again!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of passion and self-expression over external validation.
Martha Graham, a pioneering dancer and choreographer, highlights the idea that the act of dancing and the joy it brings is more important than the outcome or the recognition of one's dance. It suggests that true fulfillment comes from engaging in what one loves, rather than seeking approval or accolades from others.
Themes
DanceExpressionPassionArtFulfillment
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing one's passion, I might quote Martha Graham to inspire the audience.
More from Martha Graham
All quotes βNobody cares if you can't dance well.
Martha GrahamRead
Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it.
Martha GrahamRead
What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.
Martha GrahamRead
No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a strange, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
Martha GrahamRead
The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body.
Martha GrahamRead
Similar quotes
Bad Gardens copy, good gardens create, great gardens transcend. What all great gardens have in common are their ability to pull the sensitive viewer out of him or herself and into the garden, so completely that the separate self-sense disappears entirely, and at least for a brief moment one is ushered into a nondual and timeless awareness. A great garden, in other words, is mystical no matter what its actual content.
Ken WilberRead
I spent lunchtime in a grave during the filming of 'Bloody Mama.' When you're younger, you feel that's what you need to do to help you stay in character. When you get older, you become more confident and less intense about it - and you can achieve the same effect.
Robert De NiroRead
You can't trust an artist that just makes good records.
Nick CaveRead
Sometimes I'm asked if I do research for my stories. The answer is yes and no. No, in the sense that I seldom plow through books at the library to gather material. Yes, in the sense that the first fifteen years of my life turned out to be one big research project.
Jerry SpinelliRead
Drawing is the root of everything, and the time spent on that is actually all profit.
Vincent Van GoghRead
I prefer to unwind by DJing. I learned that from Mike D from the Beastie Boys. After a show, he would DJ. Once I saw that, I wanted to do that. And now DJing is like my lifeline. I love the power it represents.
QuestloveRead