My dear sister! Iβm amazed to discover that you can compose so delightfully. In a word, your Lied is beautiful. You must compose more often.
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartRead
My sole recreations consist in dancing English hornpipes and cutting capers. Italy is a land of sleep; I am always drowsy here.
Interpretation
Mozart expresses his lack of engagement with the drowsy culture of Italy, favoring lively activities.
In this quote, Mozart reveals his vibrant personality through his love for dance and lively music, contrasting it with his perception of Italy as a sleepy and dull place that does not energize him. His mention of dancing English hornpipes and cutting capers indicates his desire for joy and vitality in the rather tranquil ambiance he associates with Italy.
In practice
In a speech about pursuing passions, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of finding joy in activities.
My dear sister! Iβm amazed to discover that you can compose so delightfully. In a word, your Lied is beautiful. You must compose more often.
I hope never to marry in this way; I wish to make my wife happy, but not to become rich by her means, so I will let things alone and enjoy my golden freedom till I am so well off that I can support both wife and children.
I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness.
I am one of those who will go on doing till all doings are at an end.
My Constanze is the virtuous, honourable, discreet, and faithful darling of her honest and kindly-disposed Mozart.
I cannot write in verse, for I am no poet. I cannot arrange the parts of speech with such art as to produce effects of light and shade, for I am no painter. Even by signs and gestures I cannot express my thoughts and feelings, for I am no dancer. But I can do so by means of sounds, for I am a musician.
And that's what art is, a form in which people can reflect on who we are as human beings and come to some understanding of this journey we are on.
I am imbued with the notion that a Muse is necessarily a dead woman, inaccessible or absent; that a poetic structure - like the canon, which is only a hole surrounded by steel - can be based only on what one does not have; and that ultimately one can write only to fill a void or at the least to situate, in relation to the most lucid part of ourselves, the place where this incommensurable abyss yawns within us.
Making art in America is about saving one's soul.
Painting is another form of thinking.
I find campfire stories and urban legends are kind of the bread and butter that inspires a lot of people who are making horror and thriller. There is a nugget of truth behind these sort of cautionary tales.
Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process.
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