If they say they don't like the way I play Beethoven, then I can swallow that, and maybe they're right. But if they don't like what I've written, then it's about me.
Stephen HoughRead
It's very hard to come up with ideal situations... With different moods and the difficulties of traveling around, I often play my best under the worst conditions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the ability to succeed despite challenging circumstances.
Stephen Hough emphasizes that ideal conditions are rare and often unattainable, suggesting that true talent and capabilities are revealed when faced with adversity. The quote encourages embracing difficulties as opportunities for growth and excellence, illustrating that some of the best performances arise from the most challenging situations.
Themes
AdversityPerformanceResilienceChallengesSuccess
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker might use this quote to inspire an audience dealing with difficult times.
More from Stephen Hough
All quotes βUnlike sport, music is not about winning or keeping fit or promoting your town or school; it's about celebrating, to a level approaching ecstasy, the deepest human longings.
Stephen HoughRead
Life is an incurable disease leading to death, but it's also an unrequested gift, which, if we can manage to keep giving it away to others, can keep giving back everything to us.
Stephen HoughRead
All things of beauty can speak to us of God, and I'm very happy to listen to and be inspired by people of every religious background.
Stephen HoughRead
Live in the present moment. The past and future are nonexistent. Only the present can be grasped or, better, embraced.
Stephen HoughRead
In Britten or Berg, there's a tension between the sweet and the sour, between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the tonal and the atonal, the happy and the sad. That, to me, is what all western art is about - that tension. It's why we want to say anything at all.
Stephen HoughRead
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