If you want to be an entertainer, then go be an entertainer and give people what they want. If you want to be an artist, then you have to be true to yourself, and you have to be prepared to confront expectations - and you have to be prepared to disappoint your fans, too.
Interpretation
Pursue your passion with authenticity, even at the risk of disappointing others.
This quote emphasizes the distinction between being an entertainer and an artist, highlighting that true artistry requires honesty and self-awareness. While entertainers may cater to audience desires, artists must remain true to their vision, even if it means facing disappointment from fans who have different expectations.
In practice
In a speech about pursuing creative careers, this quote can inspire aspiring artists to embrace authenticity.
...What is the use of beauty? i have lived my life surrounded by painters, and still I do not know the answer. But i suspect, some days, that beauty helps protect the spirit of mankind, swaddle it and succor it, so that we might survive. Beauty is no end in itself, but if it makes or lives less miserable so that we might be more kind-well, then, lets have beauty, painted on our porcelain, hanging on our walls, ringing through our stories.
I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered through the lens of race, sex, and age.
I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film.
I feel like my music has become a lot of things. It's hard to label the evolution, but I like there to be an evolution. I just like to paint with all different kinds of colors.
When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people.
When I was younger, I thought I had to shut myself off, work really hard to cry. I learned after a while that that's just not... You know, often in life, you cry when you're caught off-guard. That's where I need to be when I'm acting, too.
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