Take your work seriously, but never yourself.
Margot FonteynRead
Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable.
Interpretation
Genius often appears to be magical due to its mysterious and inexplicable nature.
This quote suggests that genius can seem like a form of magic because it operates beyond the realm of ordinary understanding. It emphasizes that the exceptional creativity and insights of a genius are difficult to explain, much like the mystique of magic that captivates and astonishes us.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of creativity during a lecture.
Take your work seriously, but never yourself.
The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.
Life forms illogical patterns. It is haphazard and full of beauties which I try to catch as they fly by, for who knows whether any of them will ever return?
Dancers are both athletes and artists.
The essential thing about mothers is that one needs to know that they are there, particularly at that age when, paradoxically, one is trying so hard to break away from parental influence.
Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.
Truth is meant to save you first, and the comfort comes afterwards.
It's an old principle, as old as the Buddha or Marcus Aurelius: We need at times to step away from our lives in order to put them in perspective. Especially if we wish to be productive.
Some people cannot see a good thing when it is right here, right now. Others can sense a good thing coming when it is days, months, or miles away.
I shall die here. Every last inch of me shall perish. Except one. An inch. It's small and it's fragile and it's the only thing in the world worth having. we must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.
I'm a very old man. _x000D_ I've had lots of problems. _x000D_ Most of them never happened..!
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