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.
The Arts are man's most useless ... and essential ... activity.
When you write for a living and you can't do anything else, you know that sooner or later that the deadline is going to come screaming down on you like a goddamn banshee. There's no avoiding it...So one day you just don't appear at the El Adobe bar anymore; you shut the door, paint the windows black, rent an electric typewriter and become the monster you always were - the writer.
What makes a good book? Scholars and critics have been debating that question for decades. I like books that touch my head and my heart at the same time.
When I discovered the lyric poem, that advanced not by narrative steps but by blocks and layers of imagery, I said, 'Gee, I probably could do that. So let me try that.'
I dance for no reason, for reasons you can't dance, Call me an activist of intellectualized circumstance You can't learn my steps until you unlearn your thoughts Spirit, soul, can't be store-bought.
I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art
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