A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.
Interpretation
Art and thought help individuals escape cultural constraints and express themselves freely.
This quote by Beverly Sills emphasizes the vital role that art and critical thinking play in enabling individuals to break free from societal norms and expectations. By engaging with artistic expression and thoughtful contemplation, a person can attain a unique perspective that allows them to evaluate the world independently, fostering personal autonomy and creative judgment.
In practice
During an art exhibition, to emphasize the importance of personal expression through creativity.
I began by listening to my mother's collection of Amelita Galli-Curci and Lily Pons records, and then was taken (at age eight) to hear Pons at a Met performance of Lakme. It was at that moment that I decided to become an opera star. Not just an opera singer, but an opera star!
I was always the first person in the theater all the time. If it was an eight-o'clock curtain, I was here at five-thirty, and it wasn't that I needed to vocalize, because I was all warmed up. I couldn't wait for it to begin.
I lived through the garbage. I might as well dine on the caviar.
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going.
I had found a kind of serenity, a new maturity. I didn't feel better or stronger than anyone else but it seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or not - more important now was for me to love them. Feeling that way turns your whole life around; living becomes the act of giving.
When it's in a book I don't think it'll hurt any more ...exist any more. One of the things writing does is wipe things out. Replace them.
Outlaws, like lovers, poets, and tubercular composers who cough blood onto piano keys, do their finest work in the slippery rays of the moon.
You weren't going to the theatre to change the world, but you had a chance to affect the world, the thinking and the feelings of the world.
I see no reason for calling my work poetry except that there is no other category in which to put it.
Everybody must have a fantasy.
Poems, for me, begin as a social engagement. I want to establish a kind of sociability or even hospitality at the beginning of a poem. The title and the first few lines are a kind of welcome mat where I am inviting the reader inside.
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