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
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.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing one's passion, I might quote Martha Graham to inspire the audience.
The body says what words cannot.
Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it.
What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.
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.
The body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body.
I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.
The gods are fugitive guests of literature.
Radio... force-feeds us music... everywhere and all the time... sewage-water music in which music is dying.
I never approved of talkies. Silent movies were well on their way to developing an entirely new art form. It was not just pantomine, but something wonderfully expressive.
An interior is the natural projection of the soul.
I always wanted to be an artist, writer and poet since I was seven, and one has to live long enough to evolve as an artist and do one's finest work.
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