Music, Art and Madness Quotations and Proverbs

* some views expressed in these quotations not neccesarily endorsed by the author of this file.
* for entertainment only - history is not an exact science - dates and quotes not guaranteed for accuracy.

Added for February 2010: (14)

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast. To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.
  • Jimi Hendrix, (1942 - 1970) Quoted in Charles Shaar Murray,Crosstown Traffic, ch. 6 (1989)
The most difficult character in comedy is that of a fool, and he must be no simpleton who plays the part.
  • Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616), Don Quixote, 1605
The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.
  • Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956)
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
  • Fred Allen (1894 - 1956)
Creativity is a drug I cannot live without.
  • Cecil B. DeMille (1881 - 1959)
To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
  • Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)
I passionately hate the idea of being with it, I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.
  • Orson Welles (1915 - 1985)
Reality is a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs.
  • Lily Tomlin (1939 - )
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
  • Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926 - )
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
  • Bill Cosby (1937 - )
What we play is life.
  • Louis Armstrong (1900 - 1971)
Hollywood is a place where they place you under contract instead of under observation.
  • Walter Winchell (1897 - 1972)
Joel: Ed, are you hallucinating?
Ed: Oh, yeah, but not right now.
  • Sy Rosen and Christian Williams, Northern Exposure, On Your Own, 1992

 

 

 

 

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