During a rehearsal of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony the members of the orchestra were so overwhelmingly moved by the conducting of Arturo Toscanini that they rose as one man and applauded him. When the spontaneous cheering has subsided, Toscanini turned to his men, tears glistening in his eyes. "Please . . . please! Don't do this! You see, gentlemen, it isn't me you should applaud. It's Beethoven!"
Benny Goodman plays the clarinet. I play music.
I am a graphic artist heart and soul, though I find the term artist rather embarrassing.
As an artist, I didn't think I was gonna get an Oscar. I've never said this, but I've never looked at it like, "We're gonna win Best Supporting Actor."
I don't view any of the hits I've ever written as the climax of my career. They're just minor stepping stones.
I don't dare to think my paintings are great. I can't understand the arrogance of someone saying, 'I have created a big, important work.'
Wrap thyself in the decent veil that the arts or the graces weave for thee, O human nature! It is only the statue of marble whose nakedness the eye can behold without shame and offence!
The Princess Borghese, Bonaparte's sister, who was no saint, sat to Canova as a reclining Venus, and being asked if she did not feel a little uncomfortable, replied, "No. There was a fire in the room."
You know, I don't think my music is important, I don't think it's changing the world, I don't think it's art. I just think it's music. It is what it is.
I'm probably not going to play a junkie and that's OK because there are other people who will do it better.
There are films that I've made that I like a little bit more than the others. But the films that I mostly watch, and see over and over again, are not my own.
There are things I back off from trying to talk about, you know. Particularly my own work. Also, there may be things better left unsaid. At times I'd much rather talk about other (people's) work.
We hate poetry that has a palpable design upon us - and if we do not agree, seems to put its hand in its breeches pocket. Poetry should be great & unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself but with its subject. - How beautiful are the retired flowers! how would they lose their beauty were they to throng into the highway crying out, "admire me I am a violet! dote upon me I am a primrose!"
People have heard my music, but all my famous songs were made famous by somebody else... But that was my goal.
While other creators make a big show of their art Mani Sir makes it look as though anyone can do what he does.
I don't like guitar solos that are like, 'Look at me, look at me!' I like guitar solos that are little songs within the songs.
The position of the artist if humble. He is essentially a channel.
I'd rather sing a good lyric written by someone else than one of my own that is terrible.
Submitting myself for awards feels like a weird kind of horn-blowing that's not comfortable for me. I'm really happy when someone likes my work, but I don't like marketing myself, putting myself on display.
No, I'm not a great painter. Neither am I a great poet.
I don't want to be known for anything other than the fact that I play characters in movies.
I don't want to come over as some boringly self-deprecating person. But I don't see myself as a groundbreaking writer in the way plays are structured.
No one will ever ask me to sing because it's beautiful. My secret is hiding my musicianship behind humor.
The trend towards pure art betrays not arrogance, as is often thought, but modesty. Art that has rid itself of human pathos is a thing without consequence.
Stuff I like is getting trashed and stuff that is being praised I think is terrible. I don't really feel in sync with what's happening, but at the same time, what I think keeps me afloat is that I try not to be, and don't want to be, very indulgent. I try to make the films as lean as possible, and to not spend a lot of time crawling up my own ass creatively.
