If you can see yourself as an artist, and you can see that your life is your own creation, then why not create the most beautiful story for yourself?
They want me to write differently. Certainly I could, but I must not. God has chosen me from thousands and given me, of all people, this talent. It is to Him that I must give account. How then would I stand there before Almighty God, if I followed the others and not Him?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of staying true to one's unique talents and convictions, rather than conforming to the expectations of others.
In this quote, Anton Bruckner reveals his inner conflict as a creator who feels pressure to alter his artistic expression to fit in with societal norms. He asserts that his talent is a divine gift and that he must remain faithful to it in order to honor God. This highlights the importance of individuality in the creative process and the moral responsibility that comes with being true to oneself in the face of external expectations.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on creative freedom, one could use this quote to inspire artists to embrace their own unique voices.
Similar quotes
I think of writing as a sculptural medium. You are not building things. You are removing things, chipping away at language to reveal a living form.
The landscape thinks itself in me and I am its consciousness.
I have a way to photograph. You work with space, you have a camera, you have a frame, and then a fraction of a second. It's very instinctive. What you do is a fraction of a second, it's there and it's not there. But in this fraction of a second comes your past, comes your future, comes your relation with people, comes your ideology, comes your hate, comes your love - all together in this fraction of a second, it materializes there.
We sit down before the picture in order to have something done to us, not that we may do things with it. The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way (there is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered you cannot possibly find out.
Books aren't written - they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it.