Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release.
Georg SimmelRead
Music and love are the only accomplishments of humanity which do not, in an absolute sense, have to be called attempts with unsuitable means.
Interpretation
Music and love are pure expressions of humanity that need no justification.
In this quote, Georg Simmel suggests that music and love stand out as the two greatest achievements of humankind, as they are inherently valuable and do not require external validation or justification. Unlike many other pursuits that may be seen as flawed or utilitarian, music and love resonate deeply within the human experience, embodying authenticity and emotional depth.
In practice
During a speech about the importance of the arts, one could integrate this quote to emphasize the value of music and love.
Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release.
Secrecy is thus, so to speak, a transition stadium between being and not-being.
Discretion is nothing other than the sense of justice with respect to the sphere of the intimate contents of life.
In the immediate as well as the symbolic sense, in the physical as well as the intellectual sense, we are at any moment those who separate the connected, or connect the separate.
For the division of labor demands from the individual an ever more one-sided accomplishment, and the greatest advance in a one-sided pursuit only too frequently means dearth to the personality of the individual.
By my existence I am nothing more than an empty place, an outline,that is reserved within being in general. Given with it, though, is the duty to fill in this empty place. That is my life.
Photography is the easiest thing in the world if one is willing to accept pictures that are flaccid, limp, bland, banal, indiscriminately informative, and pointless. But if one insists in a photograph that is both complex and vigorous it is almost impossible
You know, young actors say all the time, 'Should I use my own life experience?' And my response is, 'What choice do you have?'
Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music.
Music is one of the last elements in the creative process. It can and hopefully should tie a bow around an artistic concept, how a story moves forward, the pace of that storytelling.
There is something bigger than fact: the underlying spirit, all it stands for, the mood, the vastness, the wildness.
The core of my writing is not art but truth.
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