Art begins when a man, with a purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs.
Leo TolstoyRead
Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions, which let themselves be described in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to man in music, and in that is its power and significance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music expresses emotions that are hard to describe with words, showcasing its profound impact.
In this quote, Tolstoy suggests that music possesses a unique ability to communicate deep feelings and emotions that often elude verbal expression. He emphasizes the power of music as a form of art that can resonate with human experience, allowing listeners to connect with their emotions on a fundamental level, transcending the limitations of language.
Themes
MusicEmotionArtExpressionCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the role of music in therapy as a form of emotional expression.
More from Leo Tolstoy
All quotes →Pierre looked into the sky, into the depths of the retreating, twinkling stars. "And all this is mine, and all this is in me, and all this is me!" thought Pierre. "And all this they've caught and put in a shed and boarded it up!
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People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing-refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.
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It's too easy to criticize a man when he's out of favour, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else's mistakes.
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A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.
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Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, the horrors of disease, and all the agonies of the soul, but for all time his tormenting tragedy is, and will be, the tragedy of the bedroom.
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