Home / Authors / Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan Quotes

Dancer

Isadora Duncan, born on May 27, 1877, and died on September 14, 1927, was a pioneer of modern dance. She is known for her free and expressive dance style, which broke away from the constraints of classical ballet and laid the foundation for modern dance.

Filter quotes by topic

All Dance Dancer Art Body Movement Dancing Firsts Children Ifs Rhythm

Famous Isadora Duncan Quotes

“When I was sixteen, I danced before an audience without music. At the end someone suddenly cried 'its Death and the Maiden'. But that was not my intention; I was only endeavoring to express my first knowledge of the underlying tragedy in all seemingly joyous manifestation. The dance according with my comprehension, should have been called 'Life and the Maiden'.”

Should Firsts Has Beens Ends Audience Should Have Tragedy Intention Dance Manifestation Cried Joyous Should Have Been Comprehension Sixteen Maidens Without Music

Book:My life

Source: My life

“The artist is the only lover; he alone has the pure vision of beauty, and love is the vision of the soul when it is permitted to gaze upon immortal beauty.”

Love Soul Artist Love Is Beauty Vision Lovers Pure And Love Immortal Beauty And Love

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“Eleonora Duse said, "Tell me about Deirdre and Patrick," and made me repeat to her all their little sayings and ways, and show her their photos, which she kissed and cried over. She never said "Cease to grieve", but she grieved with me, and, for the first time since their death, I felt I was not alone.”

Way Firsts Littles Made Said Shows Felt First Time Cease Grieving Repeats Cried Not Alone

Author:Isadora Duncan

“Farewell my friends, I go to glory.”

Glory My Friends Farewell Last Words

Author:Isadora Duncan

“I would rather live in Russia on black bread and vodka than in the United States at the best hotels. America knows nothing of food, love or art.”

Knows Art States America Culture Black United United States Food Cooking Russia Bread Hotel Culinary Vodka Food Love

Author:Isadora Duncan

“Before I was born my mother was in great agony of spirit and in a tragic situation. She could take no food except iced oysters and champagne. If people ask me when I began to dance, I reply 'In my mother's womb, probably as a result of the oysters and Champagne.'”

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“I had learned to have a perfect nausea for the theatre: the continual repetition of the same words and the same gestures, night after night, and the caprices, the way of looking at life, and the entire rigmarole disgusted me.”

Way Night Perfect Theater Theatre Gestures Repetition Disgusted Caprice Nausea

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“I see only the ideal. But no ideals have ever been fully successful on this earth.”

Earth Successful Ideals

Author:Isadora Duncan

“The Dance of the Future will have to become again a high religious art as it was with the Greeks. For art which is not religious is not art, it is mere merchandise”

Art Religious Mere Greek Merchandise Religious Art

Book:The Dance

Source: The Dance

“All my life I have struggled to make one authentic gesture.”

Author:Isadora Duncan

“To awaken human emotion is the highest level of art.”

Humans Art Levels Emotion Highest Human Emotions

Author:Isadora Duncan

“The noblest art is the nude. This truth is recognized by all, and followed by painters, sculptors and poets. Only the dancer has forgotten it, who should remember it, as the instrument of [the dance] art is the human body itself.”

Should Humans Art Body Remember Poet Truth Is Art Is Instruments Forgotten Painter Dancer Clothings Human Body Sculptors

Book:The Dance

Source: The Dance

“Dance is the movement of the universe concentrated in an individual.”

Universe Individual Movement Dancing Dance

Book:The Dance

Source: The Dance

“Anybody can and should dance... It's good for the body and the spirit.”

Should Body Spirit

Author:Isadora Duncan

“You were once wild here. Don't let them tame you.”

Life Inspirational Sensual Simple Life

Author:Isadora Duncan

“The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul.”

Soul Body Music Dance Manifestation Dancer Luminous Choreography Ballet Dancer Ballet Dancing

Author:Isadora Duncan

“Any intelligent woman who reads the marriage contract, and then goes into it, deserves all the consequences.”

Marriage Deserve Consequence Intelligent Feminist Contracts Housework Love And Marriage Intelligent Women Bridal Shower Marriage Contract

Author:Isadora Duncan

“My motto - sans limites.”

Dream Passion Limits Dance Motto My Motto

Author:Isadora Duncan

“With what price we pay for the glory of motherhood.”

Reality Mother Pay Family Mom Glory My Mom Motherhood Mum Mothers Day Mothering Happy Mothers Day Best Mother Mother Proverbs Inspirational Motherhood Just A Mom

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“Most human beings today waste some 25 to 30 years of their lives before they break through the actual and conventional lies which surround them.”

Years Humans Today Lying Human Beings Break Waste Surround Conventional Break Through

Author:Isadora Duncan

“What one has not experienced, one will never understand in print.”

Understanding Experience Print

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“The finest inheritance you can give to a child is to allow it to make its own way, completely on its own feet.”

Way Giving Children Feet Independence Finest Inheritance

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in this world.”

World Love Children Littles Long Suffering Peace This World True Love Parental Happy Children

Author:Isadora Duncan

“Art is not necessary at all. All that is necessary to make this world a better place to live in is to love - to love as Christ loved, as Buddha loved.”

World Love Art Christ This World Art Is Better Place Places To Live

Author:Isadora Duncan

“Perhaps he was a bit different from other people, but what really sympathetic person is not a little mad?”

People Littles Persons Different Bits Madness Mad Dance Sympathetic

Book:My life

Source: My life

“It has taken me years of struggle, hard work and research to learn to make one simple gesture, and I know enough about the art of writing to realize that it would take as many years of concentrated effort to write one simple, beautiful sentence.”

Knows Writing Years Art Hard Enough Beautiful Realizing Simple Effort Struggle Taken Hard Work Research Dance Sentences Memorable Gestures Art Of Writing

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“We may not all break the Ten Commandments, but we are certainly all capable of it. Within us lurks the breaker of all laws, ready to spring out at the first real opportunity.”

Firsts May Real Law Opportunity Break Ready Ten Capable Spring Lawyer Commandments Ten Commandments

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“People don't live nowadays: they get about ten percent out of life.”

People Life Women Ten Percent Memorable

Author:Isadora Duncan

“It seems to me monstrous that anyone should believe that the jazz rhythm expresses America. Jazz rhythm expresses the primitive savage.”

Should Believe Seems America Jazz Dance Rhythm Fierce Primitive Savages Monstrous

Book:My life

Source: My life

“So that ends my first experience of matrimony, which I always thought a highly over-rated performance.”

Firsts Ends Marriage Performances Matrimony

Author:Isadora Duncan

“The real American type can never be a ballet dancer. The legs are too long, the body too supple and the spirit too free for this school of affected grace and toe walking.”

Long Real Body School Spirit Grace Type Walking Dancing Dance Legs Dancer Affected Ballet Toes Ballet Dancer Ballet Dance Supple Ballet Dancing

Author:Isadora Duncan

“Master technique, so that technique NEVER prevents you from dancing.”

Masters Dancing Technique

Author:Isadora Duncan

“It is only in romances that people undergo a sudden metamorphosis. In real life, even after the most terrible experiences, the main character remains exactly the same.”

People Real Character Romance Change Terrible Remains Real Life Metamorphosis Main Characters

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“The dancer will not belong to a nation but to all humanity.”

Humanity Nations Dancer

Author:Isadora Duncan

“My first idea of movement, of the dance, certainly came from the rhythm of the wave.”

Firsts Ideas Movement Wave Rhythm

Book:My life

Source: My life

“I had discovered that love might be a pastime as well as a tragedy, and I gave myself to it with pagan innocence.”

Love Wells Might Tragedy Innocence Pagan Pastime

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

“Virtuous people are simply those who have not been tempted sufficiently, because they live in a vegetative state, or because their purposes are so concentrated in one direction that they have not had the leisure to glance around them.”

People States Purpose Virtue Leisure Virtuous Glances Tempted One Direction

Book:My life

Source: My life

“The first essential in writing about anything is that the writer should have no experience of the matter.”

Should Writing Firsts Matter Essentials Should Have

Book:My Life (Revised and Updated)

Source: My Life (Revised and Updated)

About the Author

Born: May 27, 1877
Died: September 14, 1927
Known for: Dancer
Quotes: 88

Related Topics

Dance Dancer Art Body Movement Dancing Firsts Children Ifs Rhythm

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

My Life (Revised and Updated)Related source material

My lifeRelated source material

The DanceRelated source material

Similar Authors

Nelly MazloumBrowse related quotes
Martha GrahamBrowse related quotes
Curt SachsBrowse related quotes
Ludmilla ChiriaeffBrowse related quotes
George BalanchineBrowse related quotes
August BournonvilleBrowse related quotes
Agnes de MilleBrowse related quotes
Donnie BurnsBrowse related quotes
Ruth St. DenisBrowse related quotes
Merce CunninghamBrowse related quotes