Quotes About Performance

SONG. . . . BY TOAD. (Composed by himself.) OTHER COMPOSITIONS. BY TOAD will be sung in the course of the evening by the. . . COMPOSER.

AESTHETICS OF OPERA Don't sing an aria To someone who can't Sing one back.

AESTHETICS OF AVANT-GARDE THEATRE Make the stage an actor Make an actor the stage.

AESTHETICS OF COMEDY ASLEEP Don't wake the clown Or he may knock you down.

Another book gives the illusion of scientific precision by working out this reasoning in a mathematical formula using a "Mental Performance Ratio (MPR)

Many of the profound and persistent problems we face stem more from a lack of skill (which in turn stems from a lack of deliberate practice) than from a genetic curse, a lack of courage, or a character flaw. Self-discipline, long viewed as a character trait, and elite performance, similarly linked to genetic gifts, stem from the ability to engage in guided practice of clearly defined skills.

who routinely hit 70 percent or more of their free throws tend to practice differently from those who hit 55 percent or fewer. How? Better shooters set technique-oriented goals such as, "Keep the elbow in," or, "Follow through." Players who shoot 55 percent and under tend to think more about results-oriented goals such as, "This time I'm going to make 10 in a row.

BUT WILL IT WORK FOR ME? After decades of tireless research, we have now identified about two-dozen accountability skills that, when used at the right time and delivered in the right fashion, separated positive deviants from everyone else. The questions remaining were (1) when taught, would people actually use the skills, and (2) if they did, would doing so yield better results?

In the worst companies, poor performers are first ignored and then transferred. In good companies, bosses eventually deal with problems. In the best companies, everyone holds everyone else accountable—regardless of level or position. The path to high productivity passes not through a static system, but through face-to-face conversations.

People like to set the bar high. I like to put the bar on the ground and barely step over it. I like to keep the expectations really low.

Maybe that's what a marriage is," Mqaret said. "Whistling together. Some kind of performance. I mean, not just a conversation, but a performance.

This perpetual rise and fall now got measured to an obsessive-compulsive degree, understandable given the traumas of the last century and the distinct possibility of future traumas. Sea level had for the most part stabilized after the Second Pulse, but there was still a lot of Antarctic ice teetering on the brink, so past performance was no guarantee of future anything.

The Amex man had even lifted his wrist to his mouth to take down a note, in a gesture obviously meant to be seen:

The theatre infects the audience with its noble ecstasy.

There are no small parts, only small actors.

It is not enough to discover the secret of a play, its thought and feelings—the actor must be able to convert them into living terms.

The actor does not live, he plays. He remains cold toward the object of his acting but his art must be perfection.

On the stage do not run for the sake of running, or suffer for the sake of suffering. Don't act "in general", for the sake of action; always act with a purpose.

All action in the theatre must have an inner justification, be logical, coherent and real.

I'm finding it takes too much energy to do the things that people do to pass for competent adults.

Horses have powerful legs- but that doesn't mean they're prima ballerinas. Elianna to Mariketa.

When she realized all attention was on her, she slowed. "Oh." She gave them a Queen Elizabeth wave and said, "Play on.

Court jester or ambassador. Same difference. Either way you entertain the king.

You do not come to the thee-ator and it will wither your soul. (Madam Leadora Seamstress for the Royal Magnificent Theater)