Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it's the last time.
Eric ClaptonRead
My selective memory of what drinking was like told me that standing at the bar in a pub, on a summer's evening with a long, tall glass of lager and lime was heaven, and I chose not to remember the nights on which I had sat with a bottle of vodka, a gram of coke and a shotgun, contemplating suicide.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the tendency to romanticize happy memories while ignoring painful experiences.
In this quote, Eric Clapton illustrates the concept of selective memory, where we often choose to remember the positive aspects of certain experiences while conveniently forgetting the negative ones. He contrasts a pleasant memory of enjoying a drink at a pub with the darker moments of his past struggles with substance abuse, highlighting how our perception of past events can be skewed by nostalgia, which can sometimes lead to overlooking the reality of our experiences.
Themes
MemoryNostalgiaSubstance AbuseStrugglePerception
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about overcoming addiction, this quote can serve to remind others about the importance of acknowledging all facets of one's past.
More from Eric Clapton
All quotes →There are people these days who can do things on the guitar which are beyond my reach. There's one guy who plays with Queen who can do things I would dream of doing. I sincerely mean that.
Eric ClaptonRead
My original interests and intentions in guitar playing were primarily created on quality of tone, for instance, the way the instrument could be made to echo or simulate the human voice.
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When I saw Jimi Hendrix I knew immediately that this guy was the real thing ... and when he played it was like a rough sketch of what he was going to become ... this guy was our generation, and he wasn't in a suit .. he played a Howlin' Wolf song 'Killing Floor', and then we (The Cream) had to carry on the set. It was pretty hard to follow.
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My definition of Blues is that it's a musical form which is very disciplined and structured coupled with a state of mind, and you can have either of those things but it's the two together that make it what it is. And you need to be a student for one, and a human being for the other, but those things alone don't do it.
Eric ClaptonRead
Leave bands, go back to obscurity if I choose to, without a great sense of loss of security because it's all been based on the fact that I did it on my own or was doing, enjoying doing it on my own in the first place.
Eric ClaptonRead
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