Singing has been a cherished gift, and my inability to sing has been a devastating blow.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the deep emotional connection to singing and the pain of losing that ability.
In this quote, Julie Andrews reflects on how singing is not just an art form for her, but a vital part of her identity and joy. She emphasizes that her inability to sing represents a significant loss, illustrating how deeply intertwined our passions can be with our sense of self and well-being.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about the transformative power of the arts.
I've learned a lot of things about myself through singing. I used to have a certain dislike of the audience, not as individual people, but as a giant body who was judging me. Of course, it wasn`t really them judging me. It was me judging me. Once I got past that fear, it freed me up, not just when I was performing but in other parts of my life.
My mother was terribly important to me, and I know how much I yearned for her in my youth, but I don't think I truly trusted her.
I come from a long line of below-stairs maids and gardeners. Good ol' peasant stock. My mother and her sister made a quantum leap out of that life. Then I made another quantum leap.
Every time I go out to perform, believe me. You never lose that fear of, 'I hope I do it right. I hope I don't fall flat on my face. I hope this will be good for them.'
Success is terrifying. Like happiness, it is often appreciated in retrospect. It's only later that you place it in perspective. Years from now, I'll look back and say, ‘God, wasn't it wonderful.’
I'd say almost that words come first, melody second.
There are wonderfully talented actresses. It's a really rich field. There isn't as rich a field of material.
Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.
No one can write a best seller by trying to. He must write with complete sincerity; the clichés that make you laugh, the hackneyed characters, the well-worn situations, the commonplace story that excites your derision, seem neither hackneyed, well worn nor commonplace to him. ... The conclusion is obvious: you cannot write anything that will convince unless you are yourself convinced. The best seller sells because he writes with his heart's blood.
Being essentially a creator, I never set out to shock, always thinking about creating my work and not about the benefits it could produce.
I am a poet who composes what life proses, and who proses what life composes.
Plot is a map and I begin with it. It is what made me admire the novels of the 19th century; that the stories are foreshadowed. TheyÕre going someplace.
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