I am the slave of an internal power more powerful than my education.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that inner strength and intuition can surpass formal education.
Arnold Schoenberg emphasizes the concept that one's inherent abilities and instincts can be more influential than the knowledge gained through education. He highlights the idea that personal drive and creativity, which are often innate, can lead to greater achievements than traditional learning alone. This reflects a belief in the significance of individual potential and the impact of internal motivation.
In practice
In a motivational speech about following one's passion over conventional paths.
I never was very capable of expressing my feelings or emotions in words. I don't know whether this is the cause why I did it in music and also why I did it in painting. Or vice versa: That I had this way as an outlet. I could renounce expressing something in words.
I owe very, very much to Mozart; and if one studies, for instance, the way in which I write for string quartet, then one cannot deny that I have learned this directly from Mozart. And I am proud of it!
There is still plenty of good music to be written in C major.
I find above all that the expression, atonal music, is most unfortunate β it is on a par with calling flying the art of not falling, or swimming the art of not drowning.
My music is not modern, it is merely badly played
Take heed of the Vinegar of sweet Wine, and the Anger of Good-nature.
And as the ax bites into the wood, be comforted in the fact that the ache in your heart and the confusion in your soul means that you are still alive, still human, and still open to the beauty of the world, even though you have done nothing to deserve it.
It's never what people do that makes us angry; it's what we tell ourselves about what they did.
The great paralysis of our heart is unbelief.
I often regret that I have spoken; never that I have been silent.
We should keep in mind that it is easy to concoct stories explaining the past or to become confident about dubious scenarios of the future. We should view both explanations and prophecies with skepticism.
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