A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.
Interpretation
Art and thought help individuals escape cultural constraints and express themselves freely.
This quote by Beverly Sills emphasizes the vital role that art and critical thinking play in enabling individuals to break free from societal norms and expectations. By engaging with artistic expression and thoughtful contemplation, a person can attain a unique perspective that allows them to evaluate the world independently, fostering personal autonomy and creative judgment.
In practice
During an art exhibition, to emphasize the importance of personal expression through creativity.
I began by listening to my mother's collection of Amelita Galli-Curci and Lily Pons records, and then was taken (at age eight) to hear Pons at a Met performance of Lakme. It was at that moment that I decided to become an opera star. Not just an opera singer, but an opera star!
I was always the first person in the theater all the time. If it was an eight-o'clock curtain, I was here at five-thirty, and it wasn't that I needed to vocalize, because I was all warmed up. I couldn't wait for it to begin.
I lived through the garbage. I might as well dine on the caviar.
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going.
I had found a kind of serenity, a new maturity. I didn't feel better or stronger than anyone else but it seemed no longer important whether everyone loved me or not - more important now was for me to love them. Feeling that way turns your whole life around; living becomes the act of giving.
I just like art. I get pure pleasure from it. I have a lot of wonderful paintings, and every time I look at them I see something different.
I was real good at music and real bad at everything else.
Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race. Not only every religious symbol, but every human thought has its page in that vast book.
I think most people gain some sense of how to look at a painting, but no one ever teaches you how to look at a piece of silver.
The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.
No man with a conscience can just bat out illustrations. He's got to put all his talent and feeling into them!
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