Brahms once remarked that the mark of an artist is how much he throws away. Nature, the great … - Stephen Nachmanovitch

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I do a lot of stuff with Wounded Warriors and the Armed Forces Foundation; if you want to get these guys to stop talking, start complimenting!

Stephen Nachmanovitch

Brahms once remarked that the mark of an artist is how much he throws away. Nature, the great creator, is always throwing things away. A frog lays several million eggs at a sitting. Only a few dozen of these become tadpoles, and only a few of those become frogs. We can let imagination and practice be as profligate as nature.

Artist, Eggs, Frogs, Imagination, Mark, Practice

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The most potent muse of all is our own inner child.

Child, Children, Creativity, Imagination, Inner, Potent

There are no prescriptive solutions, no grand designs for grand problems. Life's solutions lie in the minute particulars involving more and more individual people daring to create their own life and art, daring to listen to the voice within their deepest, original nature, and deeper still, the voice within the earth.

Art, Change, Deepest, Involving, Lying

In improvisation, there is only one time. This is what computer people call real time. The time of inspiration, the time of technically structuring and realizing. . . the time of playing it, and the time of communicating with the audience, are all one.

Inspiration, People, Playing, Real, Structuring, Technically

If I "try" to play, I fail; if I force the play, I crush it; if I race, I trip. Any time I stiffen or brace myself against some error or problem, the very act of bracing would cause the problem to occur. The only road to strength is vulnerability.

Cause, Crush, Errors, Problem, Race, Strength

Surrender means cultivating a comfortable attitude toward not knowing, being nurtured by the mystery of moments that are dependably surprising, ever fresh.

Attitude, Cultivating, Knowing, Mean, Surrender