I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world... it pushed me to think of things bigger than life's daily routines... to think beyond what is immediate or convenient.
Mikhail BaryshnikovRead
Perfection is a theory. You cannot be a perfect human being, perfect artist. You cannot be a perfect husband, you cannot be a perfect father probably and probably I am not. But go through your daily routine with hope you will be a little better in all respects, and do something meaningful
Interpretation
Perfection is unattainable; focus on daily improvement instead.
Mikhail Baryshnikov emphasizes that the concept of perfection is merely a theoretical ideal that cannot be fully realized in human endeavors, such as being an artist or a family member. Rather than striving for an impossible standard of perfection, individuals should aim for incremental improvement in their daily lives, engaging in meaningful activities that enhance their skills and relationships.
In practice
During a motivational speech about personal growth.
I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world... it pushed me to think of things bigger than life's daily routines... to think beyond what is immediate or convenient.
It's weird when you see pieces of choreography that were done for you 15 or 20 years ago and now they are being done by another dance company.
I miss horribly those couple of hours before the performance when you get into the theater and you see people.
No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business.
There comes a moment in a young artist's life when he knows he has to bring something to the stage from within himself. He has to put in something in order to be able to take something.
Dancing is my obsession. My life.
The way to get on in the world is to be neither more nor less wise, neither better nor worse than your neighbours.
To recognize one's own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence.
I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.
If I meet other people and criticize their weaknesses, I rob myself of higher cognitive power. But if I try to enter deeply and lovingly into another person's good qualities, I gather in that force.
I've been traveling all over the world for 25 years, performing, talking to people, studying their cultures and musical instruments, and I always come away with more questions in my head than can be answered.
My failures may be my greatest successes. It is in failure that I have often drawn closer to God, learn to depend more on Him than myself, gained self-knowledge, and seen things in their right perspective.
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