Quotes About Inspiration

That was the exhilaration of creating one's own compositions, that one's personal melodies could be reborn in the voices and spirits of others.

I learned that my playin' could reach into people's souls. Got them out of their despair. Made 'em think 'bout their loved ones back home. Made 'em feel brave before they marched into battle. Made it feel safe for them to cry when they're sittin' 'round the campfire.

A woman who loves books has a dreamer's soul, with each story she has read woven into her own.

You hear in the person you're destined to love the sound of those yet to be born.

There is only one key to knowledge, and that is desire.

Le propre des grands livres est que chaque lecteur en est l'auteur.

If I knew what I was thinking [...] I would never have become a writer.

Vous parlez beaucoup de Céline. - J'aime la littérature, monsieur. Ça vous étonne? - Vous ne l'expurgez pas, lui, je suppose? - Non. C'est lui qui ne cesse de m'expurger. - L'avez-vous rencontré? - Non, j'ai fait beaucoup mieux: je l'ai lu.

La neuvième de Beethoven serait insoutenable aux oreilles si elle ne comportait des hésitations désespérés ...

Je baptise l'avion Pégase. La musique de Liszt a multiplié ma joie par mille. J'ai vingt-trois ans et je n'ai encore rien trouvé de ce que je cherchais. C'est pour ça que la vie me plaît. Il est bon, à vingt-trois ans, de ne pas avoir découvert son chemin.

How wonderful: I've only just met you and you've already enriched my life.

L'avez-vous rencontré ? - Non, j'ai fait beaucoup mieux : je l'ai lu.

Il y a une impossibilité tecnique à raconter le sublime. Soit on n'est pas intéressant, soit on est comique.

J'ai beau savoir qu'écrire est dangereux et qu'on y risque sa vie, je m'y laisse toujours prendre.

As she went on with her labour, she became aware that she had Schubert's Erl-King going around in her head. It wasn't the ideal music for the job. Normally, Pannonique programmed her brain to play symphonies that have her the energy indispensable for such physical labour-Saint-Saens, Dvorak-but now that heart-rending Lied stuck in her skull and sapped her strength.

Aussi je me permets de vous demander quelles sont les pensées et les humeurs d'un grand écrivain qui se sait sur le point de mourir. Silence. Soupir. - Je ne sais pas, monsieur. - Vous ne savez pas? - Si je savais à quoi je pensais, je suppose que je ne serais pas devenu écrivain. - Vous voulez dire que vous écrivez pour savoir enfin à quoi vous pensez? - C'est possible. Je ne sais plus très bien, je n'ai plus écrit depuis si longtemps.

At the age of 15, a teacher had asked me what I wanted to do for a career, and without knowing why or even how I replied that I wanted to be a poet.

Art is the demonstration that the ordinary is extraordinary.

I always tell people, I'm a better swimmer because I'm a mom and a better mom because I'm swimmer.

It was a hallmark of Nelson Mandela's leadership that being open to change made him appear not weaker, but even stronger.

I don't want to come across as a victim with a sob story. I've got a fantastic life. I'm not a victim. I thank the bullies out there for making me who I am. Some people become weaker, but the bullies made me stronger.

The more I thought about myself, the weaker I got. The more I recognized that I was serving a purpose larger than myself, the stronger I got.

A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.

When you are learning through poetry how to speak English, it lends to a great understanding of sound, of pitch, of pronunciation, so I think of my speech impediment not as a weakness or a disability, but as one of my greatest strengths.