Singing has been a cherished gift, and my inability to sing has been a devastating blow.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the deep emotional connection to singing and the pain of losing that ability.
In this quote, Julie Andrews reflects on how singing is not just an art form for her, but a vital part of her identity and joy. She emphasizes that her inability to sing represents a significant loss, illustrating how deeply intertwined our passions can be with our sense of self and well-being.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about the transformative power of the arts.
I've learned a lot of things about myself through singing. I used to have a certain dislike of the audience, not as individual people, but as a giant body who was judging me. Of course, it wasn`t really them judging me. It was me judging me. Once I got past that fear, it freed me up, not just when I was performing but in other parts of my life.
My mother was terribly important to me, and I know how much I yearned for her in my youth, but I don't think I truly trusted her.
I come from a long line of below-stairs maids and gardeners. Good ol' peasant stock. My mother and her sister made a quantum leap out of that life. Then I made another quantum leap.
Every time I go out to perform, believe me. You never lose that fear of, 'I hope I do it right. I hope I don't fall flat on my face. I hope this will be good for them.'
Success is terrifying. Like happiness, it is often appreciated in retrospect. It's only later that you place it in perspective. Years from now, I'll look back and say, βGod, wasn't it wonderful.β
I'd say almost that words come first, melody second.
So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.
The only merit I have is to have painted directly from nature with the aim of conveying my impressions in front of the most fugitive effects.
My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part of, and then press it a little further.
Art is a gift: you create and then you give away. How readers receive that gift is their business. If they hate it, thatβs their response to it. Others respond by liking it. Either way, that is their interaction with the book, which is no longer mine.
A main part of the struggle of art has been to make an art that is direct, simple, humane, unconnected with powers that be in their essence... To the degree that it is connected with the bourgeoisie via the marketplace and so on is not necessarily an artist's problem.
Intolerance respecting other people's religion is toleration itself in comparison with intolerance respecting other people's art.
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