I have no use for a theoretic freedom. Let me have something finite, definite – matter that can lend itself to my operation only insofar as it is commensurate with my possibilities. And such matter presents itself to me together with limitations. I must in turn impose mine upon it. So here we are, whether we like it or not, in the realm of necessity. And yet which of us has ever heard talk of art as other than a realm of freedom? This sort of heresy is uniformly widespread because it is imagined that art is outside the bounds of ordinary activity. Well, in art as in everything else, one can build only upon a resisting foundation: whatever constantly gives way to pressure, constantly renders movement impossible. My freedom thus consists in my moving about within the narrow frame that I have assigned myself for each one of my undertakings. I shall go even further: my freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint, diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self of the chains that shackle the spirit. Igor Stravinsky
About This Quote

It is the artist's greatest glory to make himself what he has modeled. The true artist makes himself the man he has to be. Most people are not willing to be what they are; they want to become what they think they ought to be. That is why so many of them fail.

Instead, do what you have to do, and don’t try to become the person you think you ought to be. Don't let yourself be limited by what other people want you to be or by your past unhappy experiences.

Source: Poetics Of Music In The Form Of Six Lessons

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