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
Live in the present moment. The past and future are nonexistent. Only the present can be grasped or, better, embraced.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on the present as the past and future are not real; only the now can be experienced.
This quote emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment, suggesting that the past has already happened and the future is uncertain. It encourages individuals to engage fully with their current experience, as this is the only moment that can truly be felt, understood, and acted upon.
Themes
PresentMomentExperienceMindfulnessLiving
In practice
Example use cases
In a mindfulness workshop, this quote could inspire participants to focus on their breathing and sensations.
More from Stephen Hough
All quotes →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.
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
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
There are artists who delight listeners with their wild and daring individuality; there are others who uncover the written score with reverence. There are few who can do both.
Stephen HoughRead
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I saw the best minds of my generation who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade.
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