I don't feel any pressure from fans. But I'm always in some kind of state of emotional turmoil. I would not describe myself as happy-go-lucky. That's not to say that I'm not happy.
Paul SimonRead
Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Improvisation should be a deliberate and considered practice, not something left to random fortune.
In this quote, Paul Simon emphasizes the importance of being intentional and thoughtful about the art of improvisation. Rather than leaving such a creative process to mere luck, he advocates for a proactive approach where one actively hones their skills and prepares to seize opportunities when they arise, reflecting the idea that preparation meets chance to create something beautiful.
Themes
ImprovisationChanceArtCreativityPreparation
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on creative writing, the facilitator quoted Paul Simon to inspire participants to embrace planned improvisation.
More from Paul Simon
All quotes →I sort of recognize it, as opposed to shaping it. Oh, that's a good idea, that's a good line. I wonder where I can use that. And when you get into a rhyme group like 'not,' you got a lot of rhymes, you got a lot of choices. The more you do it, the luckier you get.
Paul SimonRead
I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told, and I have squandered my resistance, for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises. All lies in jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest...la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lala-la-la-la-la...
Paul SimonRead
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Paul SimonRead
I don't believe what the papers are saying They're just out to capture my dime, Exaggerating this, exaggerating that.
Paul SimonRead
Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.
Paul SimonRead
Similar quotes
Visitation Street is urban opera writ large. Gritty and magical, filled with mystery, poetry and pain, Ivy Pochoda’s voice recalls Richard Price, Junot Diaz, and even Alice Sebold, yet it’s indelibly her own.
Dennis LehaneRead
It's ironic that while I was a worker in Detroit, which I left when I was twenty six, my sense was that the thing that's going to stop me from being a poet is the fact that I'm doing this crummy work.
Philip LevineRead
So while our art cannot, as we wish it could, save us from wars, privation, envy, greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us amidst it all.
Ray BradburyRead
To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.
Steven PressfieldRead
I certainly enjoy Usher, Beyonce, Chris Brown, and there is Fantasia; these people will be around a while. They've got it. They've got the 'it' factor.
Aretha FranklinRead
Painting is another form of thinking.
Gerhard RichterRead