If there is some good in me, it is because I was born in the subtle atmosphere of your country of Arezzo. Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, with which I make my figures.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the profound influence of one's environment and upbringing on their artistic abilities.
In this quote, Michelangelo expresses gratitude for his origins in Arezzo, attributing his talent for sculpting to the nurturing environment he experienced there. He recognizes that his skills are intertwined with the cultural and social fabric of his homeland, suggesting that creativity is often cultivated through the surroundings and experiences of one's youth.
In practice
In a speech reflecting on cultural identity and artistry, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of heritage.
The art of creation lies in the gift of perceiving the particular and generalizing it, thus creating the particular again. It is therefore a powerful transforming force and a generator of creative solutions in relation to a given problem.
The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.
Art lives on constraint and dies of freedom.
If it be true that any beautiful thing raises the pure and just desire of man from earth to God, the eternal fount of all, such I believe my love.
Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.
There is an angel imprisoned in it and I must set it free.
You adapt yourself to the contents of the paintbox.
We watch a romantic comedy because we want to cry, say, or an action movie so we can participate in heroics. Horror's different. It can hit you with a moment of revulsion so hard you might want to erase the last five minutes of your life, please.
I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable — how we decide what is valuable.
Fiction writing is just an excuse to go discover interesting things.
I believe that a good comic script can succeed despite being drawn badly, but that a bad script can't be saved by good art. Of course, great writing and great illustration makes for a great comic 100 percent of the time.
Growing up, I never gave a thought to being a writer. All I ever wanted to be was a traveler and explorer. Science-fiction allowed me to go places that were otherwise inaccessible, which is why I started reading it.
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