Profound music leads us beyond language...to the dark roots of our scream and the celestial heights of our silence.
Interpretation
Music transcends verbal communication, touching the deepest parts of human experience.
This quote by Cornel West highlights the unique ability of music to communicate profound emotions and experiences that often elude verbal expression. It suggests that music connects us to both our deepest struggles and our most transcendent moments, acting as a conduit for feelings that are too deep for words.
In practice
In a graduation speech, one might quote this to illustrate the power of music in moments of celebration and reflection.
King's response to our crisis can be put in one word: revolution. A revolution in our priorities, a reevaluation of our values, a reinvigoration of our public life and a fundamental transformation of our way of thinking and living that promotes a transfer of power from oligarchs and plutocrats to everyday people and ordinary citizens.
You've got to love yourself enough, not only so that others will be able to love you, but that you'll be able to love others.
And when I talk about love, I'm talking about something that's great, though, brother. I'm talking about something that will sustain you.
Clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists.
I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'
Never before has the seductive market way of life held such sway in nearly every sphere of American life. This marketing way of life promotes addictions to stimulation and obsessions with comfort and convenience ... centered primarily around bodily pleasures and status rankings. ... The common denominator is a rugged and ragged individualism and rapacious hedonism in quest of a perennial "high" in body and mind.
It's a two-dimensional gig being a singer, and you can get lost in your own tedium and repetition.
I like the feeling of words doing as they want to do and as they have to do.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
From my spirit's gray defeat, From my pulse's flagging beat, From my hopes that turned to sand Sifting through my close-clenched hand, From my own fault's slavery, If I can sing, I still am free. For with my singing I can make A refuge for my spirit's sake, A house of shining words, to be My fragile immortality.
Much good art got made while money ruled; I like a lot of it, and hardship and poverty aren't virtues. The good news is that, since almost no one will be selling art, artists - especially emerging ones - won't have to think about turning out a consistent style or creating a brand. They'll be able to experiment as much as they want.
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