My dear sister! Iβm amazed to discover that you can compose so delightfully. In a word, your Lied is beautiful. You must compose more often.
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartRead
My sole recreations consist in dancing English hornpipes and cutting capers. Italy is a land of sleep; I am always drowsy here.
Interpretation
Mozart expresses his lack of engagement with the drowsy culture of Italy, favoring lively activities.
In this quote, Mozart reveals his vibrant personality through his love for dance and lively music, contrasting it with his perception of Italy as a sleepy and dull place that does not energize him. His mention of dancing English hornpipes and cutting capers indicates his desire for joy and vitality in the rather tranquil ambiance he associates with Italy.
In practice
In a speech about pursuing passions, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of finding joy in activities.
My dear sister! Iβm amazed to discover that you can compose so delightfully. In a word, your Lied is beautiful. You must compose more often.
I hope never to marry in this way; I wish to make my wife happy, but not to become rich by her means, so I will let things alone and enjoy my golden freedom till I am so well off that I can support both wife and children.
I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness.
I am one of those who will go on doing till all doings are at an end.
My Constanze is the virtuous, honourable, discreet, and faithful darling of her honest and kindly-disposed Mozart.
I cannot write in verse, for I am no poet. I cannot arrange the parts of speech with such art as to produce effects of light and shade, for I am no painter. Even by signs and gestures I cannot express my thoughts and feelings, for I am no dancer. But I can do so by means of sounds, for I am a musician.
An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.
The first work of the director is to set a mood so that the actor's work can take place, so that the actor can create. And in order to do that, you have to communicate, communicate with the actors. And direction is about communication on all levels.
Making art is complicated because the categories are always changing. You just have to make your own art, and whatever categories it falls into will come later.
The best art is realized when you can share the experience of making of it and not just the presentation of it, so that the audience is part of the creation and not just part of the consumption. Then it becomes much more full-bodied and robust.
She fell asleep, and it was a sleep as thin as the night clouds, dotted with dreams that came and went like the stars.
She didn't even have to smile, and she rarely did outside her house--it was the eyes, her dancer's carriage, the way she seemed to deliberate over the smallest movement of her body.
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