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Berton Braley

Berton Braley Quotes

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Famous Berton Braley Quotes

“Men crawl in slime and wallow in the mud; The Realist groans: "All life is mud ans slime!" Men lie and steal and shed each other's blood; And Realism sees but blood and crime. Yet Right is just as real as Wrong, The mountain peak is real as the ooze, A curse is no more real than a song; Among realities we need but choose. The cynic sees the failure of To-day, The Prophet cries the triumph of To-morrow, Knowing the spirit in our clogging clay That masters doubt, disaster, loss and sorrow. Failure is but a passing weariness, There is no final answer but Success.”

“The Working Song by Breton Braley Oh, we're sick to death of the style of song That's only a sort of a simpering song, A kissy song and a sissy song Or a weepy, creepy, whimpering song. So give us a lift of a lusty song, A boisterous, bubbling, boiling song, Or a smashing song and a dashing song, Oh, give us the tang of a toiling song, The chanty loud of the working crowd, The thunderous thrall of a toiling song! Ay, sing us a joyous daring song, Not a moaning, groaning, fretting song, But a ringing song, and a swinging song, A rigorous, vigorous, sweating song. We have had enough of the gypsy song, Which is only a lazy, shirking song, So toughen your throat to a rougher note And give us the tune of a working song, A tune of strife and the joy of life, The beat and throb of a working song!”

“I honestly believe that sound commercialism is the best test of true value in art. People work hard for their money and if they won't part with it for your product the chances are that your product hasn't sufficient value. An artist or writer hasn't any monopoly .... If the public response to his artistry is lacking, he'd do well to spend more time analyzing what's the matter with his work, and less time figuring what's the matter with the public.”