Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well.
Diane AckermanRead
Much of life becomes background, but it is the province of art to throw buckets of light into the shadows and make life new again.
Interpretation
Art helps to illuminate and refresh our understanding of life by revealing beauty in the mundane.
In this quote, Diane Ackerman suggests that while much of life can often feel mundane and unnoticed, art has the unique ability to shine a light on those overlooked aspects, revealing their beauty and significance. By doing so, art revitalizes our perception of life, encouraging us to see the world with renewed eyes and appreciation.
In practice
In a discussion about the role of creativity in society, one might use this quote to emphasize art's transformative power.
Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well.
We try to exile ourselves more and more from nature - not always consciously: We build houses; we dismiss nature; nature has to be outside, because we're inside. God forbid something like a cockroach comes inside, or some dust.
We ogle plants and animals up close on television, the Internet and in the movies. We may not worship the animals we see, but we still regard them as necessary physical and spiritual companions. Technological nature can't completely satisfy that yearning.
Because IQ tests favor memory skills and logic, overlooking artistic creativity, insight, resiliency, emotional reserves, sensory gifts, and life experience, they can't really predict success, let alone satisfaction.
American writer_x000D_ _x000D_ 1803-1882_x000D_ _x000D_ Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.
In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time's continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world's ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold.
There is no truer truth obtainable by Man than comes of music
I never consciously place symbolism in my writing. That would be a self-conscious exercise and self-consciousness is defeating to any creative act. Better to get the subconscious to do the work for you, and get out of the way. The best symbolism is always unsuspected and natural. During a lifetime, one saves up information which collects itself around centers in the mind; these automatically become symbols on a subliminal level and need only be summoned in the heat of writing.
A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.
Music knows no barrier of age or culture. It isnβt about being politically correct or even making a statement. Music is what appeals to the ears and touches your soul.
All good, clean stories are melodrama, it's just the set of devices that determines how you show or hide it.
My sole recreations consist in dancing English hornpipes and cutting capers. Italy is a land of sleep; I am always drowsy here.
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