Of course there is no formula for success, except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life, and what it brings
Arthur RubinsteinRead
To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings - it's all a miracle. I have adopted the technique of living life miracle to miracle.
Interpretation
Life is a series of miracles, and appreciating them brings joy.
Arthur Rubinstein emphasizes the miraculous aspects of existence, highlighting the simple yet profound joys of life such as seeing, walking, and experiencing art. By adopting a mindset that cherishes these miracles one after another, he suggests that we can lead a fulfilling life filled with gratitude and appreciation.
In practice
During a motivational speech about gratitude and mindfulness.
Of course there is no formula for success, except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life, and what it brings
Sometimes when I sit down to practice and there is no one else in the room, I have to stifle an impulse to ring for the elevator man and offer him money to come in and hear me.
Composing a concert is like composing a menu.... If you start with light pieces and play a 45-minute sonata after the interlude, it's like starting dinner with hors d'oeuvres and dessert and finishing with a Châteaubriand and vegetables.
At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different.
I'm a free person; I feel terribly free. They could put me in chains and I still would be free because my thoughts would be mine - and that's all I want to have.
To be alive, to able to see, to walk...it's all a miracle. I have adapted the technique of living life from miracle to miracle.
Don't lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don't have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith. Be true blue. You are a writer because you write. Keep writing and quit your bitching. Your book has a birthday. You don't know what it is yet.
When the journey's over/There'll be time enough to sleep.
A human life has seasons much as the earth has seasons, each time with its own particular beauty and power. And gift. By focusing on springtime and summer, we have turned the natural process of life into a process of loss rather than a process of celebration and appreciation. Life is neither linear nor stagnant. It is movement from mystery to mystery. Just as a year includes autumn and winter, life includes death, not as an opposite but as an integral part of the way life is made.
They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.
A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That now, domestic as a plate, I should retire at half-past eight?
Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.
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