You shall create beauty not to excite the senses but to give sustenance to the soul.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of creating beauty that nourishes the spirit rather than merely appealing to the senses.
Gabriela Mistral's quote suggests that true beauty serves a deeper purpose; it is not just about superficial pleasure but rather about enriching one's inner life and providing sustenance to the soul. This perspective encourages artists and creators to focus on the emotional and spiritual impact of their work, fostering a connection that transcends mere aesthetic enjoyment.
In practice
In a speech at an art gallery opening, one might say, 'As Gabriela Mistral once stated, we create beauty to nourish the soul, inspiring us all.'
I write poetry because I can’t disobey the impulse; it would be like blocking a spring that surges up in my throat. For a long time I’ve been the servant of the song that comes, that appears and can’t be buried away. How to seal myself up now?…It no longer matters to me who receives what I submit. What I carry out is, in that respect, greater and deeper than I, I am merely the channel.
Now my belly is as noble as my heart.
Many things can wait. Children cannot. Today their bones are being formed, their blood is being made, their senses are being developed. To them we cannot say "tomorrow." Their name is today.
Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today.
Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they're trying to say with jazz. You don't need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.
We live in the digital age and, unfortunately, it’s degrading our music, not improving it It’s not that digital is bad or inferior, it’s that the way it’s being used isn’t doing justice to the art. The MP3 only has 5 percent of the data present in the original recording. … The convenience of the digital age has forced people to choose between quality and convenience, but they shouldn’t have to make that choice.
I wouldn't want everybody to be an art or literature major, but the world would be poorer - figuratively, anyway - if we were all coding software or running companies. We also want musicians to awaken our souls, writers to lead us into fictional lands, and philosophers to help us exercise our minds and engage the world.
The art has to make it on its own, without explanations, and it’s the same for poetry. If the poem or the painting has to be explained, then it’s a failure in communication.
Art is not living. It is the use of living. The artist has the ability to take the living and use it in a certain way and produce art.
Do not write if there is no tremendous urge to do so. At the heart, there must be an inspiration or muse or one of those old-fashioned things. Else, why bore yourself, destroy other people's interest and kill trees?
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