The lark that shuns on lofty boughs to build, Her humble nest, lies silent in the field.
Edmund WallerRead
Music so softens and disarms the mind That not an arrow does resistance find.
Interpretation
Music has the power to soothe and disarm even the most resistant minds.
This quote suggests that music possesses a remarkable ability to calm the mind, making it open and receptive. It highlights the transformative nature of music, implying that it can affect emotions and thoughts in a way that disarms our defenses, allowing us to experience vulnerability and connection.
In practice
In a speech about the healing powers of art, one could use this quote to emphasize how music can comfort us.
The lark that shuns on lofty boughs to build, Her humble nest, lies silent in the field.
Could we forbear dispute, and practise love,_x000D_ _x000D_ We should agree as angels do above.
All human things Of dearest value hang on slender strings.
The chain that's fixed to the throne of Jove, On which the fabric of our world depends, One link dissolved, the whole creation ends.
The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made. Stronger by weakness, wiser men become As they draw near to their eternal home: Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view That stand upon the threshold of the new.
Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain.
Plot, rules, nor even poetry, are not half so great beauties in tragedy or comedy as a just imitation of nature, of character, of the passions and their operations in diversified situations.
I am seeking that dance which might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body's movement.
I think of guitar players in terms of doctors: you have the doctor for your heart, the cardiologist, then one that works on your feet, your leg. But I believe George Benson is the one that plays all over. To me, he would be the M.D. of them all.
I have a mess in my head sometimes, and there's something very satisfying about putting it into words. Certainly it's not something that you're in charge of, necessarily, but writing about it, putting it into your words, can be a very powerful experience.
You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way... people look at reality, then you can change it.
I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of thick concrete walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city's environment require the wall to be without openings, the interior must be especially full and satisfying.
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