That is art: to give all you have. And what have you? _x000D_ Your life - nothing more. _x000D_ And to give life means to feel life throughout your whole being.
Michael ChekhovRead
Compassion may be called the fundamental of all good art because it alone can tell you what other beings feel and experience. Only compassion severs the bonds of your personal limitations, and gives you deep access into the inner life of the character you study, without which you cannot properly prepare it for the stage
Interpretation
What this quote means
Compassion is essential for understanding and portraying characters in art.
This quote emphasizes the importance of compassion in the creation and interpretation of art. Michael Chekhov argues that to truly understand and depict the emotions and experiences of others, one must possess a sense of compassion. This understanding transcends personal limitations, enabling deeper insights into characters and their stories, which is crucial for performing them authentically on stage.
Themes
CompassionArtUnderstandingEmotionCharacters
In practice
Example use cases
In a theater workshop, one might use this quote to encourage actors to empathize with their characters.
More from Michael Chekhov
All quotes →The inner life of the [imagination], and not the personal and tiny experiential resources of the actor, should be elaborated on the stage and shown to the audience. This life is rich and revealing for the audience as well as for the actor himself.
Michael ChekhovRead
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