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
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.
In practice
A motivational speaker might use this quote to inspire an audience dealing with difficult times.
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.
Unlike 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.
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.
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.
Live in the present moment. The past and future are nonexistent. Only the present can be grasped or, better, embraced.
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.
I don't think it's a Western thing to really talk about intrinsic motivation and the drive for autonomy, mastery and purpose. You have to not be struggling for survival. For people who don't know where their next meal is coming, notions of finding inner motivation are comical.
There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you.
There's no way to convince people of your greatness. Whatever it is that you want to be, you have to know it inside and knife-fight your way to your dream.
My wrestling dream was to become a Division I national champion. That was my No. 1 dream - not Olympics, not money. Just winning that tournament.
If you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? Carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.
There is no way around the hard work. Embrace it.
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