The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Thomas MannRead
One must die to life in order to be utterly a creator.
Interpretation
To truly create, one must let go of traditional attachments to life and experience.
This quote by Thomas Mann reflects the idea that true creativity often requires a profound transformation or sacrifice. In order to reach a higher level of artistic expression, an individual may need to abandon their conventional understanding of life, embracing a new perspective that allows for greater freedom and innovation in their creative processes.
In practice
In a speech about the struggles of artists, this quote could be used to emphasize the need for personal sacrifice in the pursuit of great art.
The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Stupid β well, there are so many kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst.
It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.
I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh.
Literature... is the union of suffering with the instinct for form.
The Freudian theory is one of the most important foundation stones for an edifice to be built by future generations, the dwelling of a freer and wiser humanity.
The thing that hasn't changed, and I don't think will ever change, is that the operative word in music is "play." You have to have a playfulness about it. As the world shifts, it's starting to understand more and more that to have a playfulness about any and everything is actually the way of having a better life, or being more creative, or being more productive.
Not till the poets among us can be "literalists of the imagination"-above insolence and triviality and can present for inspection, "imaginary gardens with real toads in them." shall we have it.
Critics... They're like traffic cops. They say what they have to say, then leave, and another guy moves in ,and he has his say - and it's often just the opposite. The result is either critical acclaim or critical murder, and neither has any bearing on my music or direction.
Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.
Color is all. When color is right, form is right. Color is everything, color is vibration like music; everything is vibration.
In the world of musical theatre, if everyone says it's a good idea, you wonder why nobody has done it before.
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