If you only do what you know and do it very, very well, chances are that you won't fail. You'll just stagnate, and your work will get less and less interesting, and that's failure by erosion
Interpretation
Sticking to what you know can lead to stagnation rather than growth.
Twyla Tharp's quote emphasizes the importance of stepping outside one's comfort zone. While excelling at what you already know can lead to a sense of security, it may ultimately result in a lack of innovation and engagement, creating a slow decline in the quality of your work, which she describes as failure by erosion.
In practice
A motivational speaker might use this quote to encourage a room full of professionals to pursue new skills.
Do I watch dancers as people? Yes, absolutely. Do I watch really good dancers for specifically who they are? Absolutely, because how they move best and how they look best is going to be most familiar to them, and not necessarily to me.
I am still pushing the edge of what my body can do.
No one is born with skill. It is developed through exercise, through repetition, through a blend of learning and reflection that's both painstaking and rewarding. And it takes time.
Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft. Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering. Combining the two is the essence of the creative life.
I grew up in a drive-in theater, from the time I was 8, working in a snack bar watching four features every week. It was silent theater in the sense that this was a drive-in, which meant that I often saw the films going with no sound. But I learned to tell stories through action.
Without passion, all the skill in the world won't lift you above craft.
Take advantage of each small success. In this way you close the gap between what you want from life and what it is giving you.
There's a plaque on our wall that says we've sold over 65 million albums, and I don't feel I've accomplished anything. I feel like I'm just getting started.
I enjoy what I do because it keeps evolving - when I was a cook, I wanted to be a chef de partie; when I was a chef de partie, I wanted to be a chef; when I was a chef, I wanted to be a restaurateur, and now I am a chef entrepreneur. I am still fulfilling my dream.
There is only one way to make a great deal of money; and that is in a business of your own.
Everybody's story of getting into the industry is just as difficult as the next person. Whether you come from money or no money, it's not easy... you have to offer yourself; you can't expect someone to get you.
People talk about you won four national championships. Well, I feel like we've had good enough teams to win eight. So I feel like we failed four times. I feel like I failed four times.
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