You don't stop laughing because you grow older. You grow older because you stop laughing.
Maurice ChevalierRead
Inspiration comes unawares, from unaccountable sources that have nothing to do with planning or intelligence. Let it cool ever so slightly, and you are left, pen or brush in hand, with no inspiration at all. Gifted people need not, therefore, make a song and dance about being or supposing themselves superior. They simply happened to be born with that fortunate, subconscious equipment of theirs, and the mystery exists independently of intelligence or ambition.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Inspiration is often spontaneous and unrelated to conscious effort, and true talent is a gift rather than a measure of superiority.
This quote highlights the elusive nature of inspiration and creativity, suggesting that it often strikes unexpectedly and is not the result of deliberate planning or intelligence. Maurice Chevalier emphasizes that those who are considered gifted in the arts possess an intrinsic ability that is independent of their awareness or ambition, pointing to the mystery of creative inspiration as something that cannot be controlled or forced.
Themes
InspirationCreativityArtTalentGiftedness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity in the arts, one might quote this to emphasize the unpredictable nature of artistic inspiration.
More from Maurice Chevalier
All quotes →Many a man has fallen in love with a girl in a light so dim he would not have chosen a suit by it.
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