Two Quotes On Artistic Discipline

“Not to show off, but to show; not to exhibit but to transmit the tenderness of the human spirit through the disciplined action of a human body.”
-Merce Cunningham (h/t Marilyn on Superfluities)

“Don’t bear me ill will, speech, that I borrow weighty words,
Then labor heavily so that they may seem light.”
-Wislawa Szymborska, Under One Small Star

In thinking about the conversation on quality, it’s humbling to remember that all of our disciplined work and heavy labors simply clear the way for something else to happen; a moment of the spirit; quick, tender and light. And rare.