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.
There’s a strange quality in stop-motion photography, like in King Kong, that adds to the fantasy. If you make things too real, sometimes you bring it down to the mundane.
The painting is finished when the idea has disappeared.
We do not make photographs with our cameras. We make them with our minds, with our hearts, with our ideas.
The radio has so many rules, and songs don't. You don't necessarily write to a rule book unless you're, like, just doing it professionally, which has never been my thing.
The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with base notes, or dark lake with the treble.
There is something about giving everything to your profession. In Italian, an obsession is not necessarily negative. It's the art of putting all your energy into one thing; it's the art of transforming even what you eat for lunch into architecture.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.