Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Peter Swanson

Quote by Peter Swanson

Work

Nine Lives

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Peter Swanson

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Peter Swanson. more

You May Also Like

“Not only poetry but also music in the ordinary sense of the term are to be controlled by a rigid censorship, and both are to be devoted entirely to strengthening the stability of the state by making the young more conscious of class discipline, and thus more ready to serve class interests. Plato even forgets that it is the function of music to make the young more gentle, for he demands such forms of music as will make them braver, i.e. fiercer. (Considering that Plato was an Athenian, his arguments concerning music proper appear to me almost incredible in their superstitious intolerance, especially if compared with a more enlightened contemporary criticism. But even now he has many musicians on his side, possibly because they are flattered by his high opinion of the importance of music, i.e. of its political power. The same is true of educationists, and even more of philosophers, since Plato demands that they should rule.) The political principle that determines the education of the soul, namely, the preservation of the stability of the state, determines also that of the body. The aim is simply that of Sparta.”

MusicCensorshipPlatoTotalitarianismAthensClass WarfareSpartaPlatonismThe RepublicClass Structure
Book:The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato
Create image

“It so happened that Lucy, who found daily life rather chaotic, entered a more solid world when she opened the piano. She was then no longer either differential or patronizing; no longer either a rebel or a slave. The kingdom of music is not the kingdom of this world; it will accept those whom breeding and intellect and culture have alike rejected. The commonplace person begins to play, and shoots into the empyrean without effort, whilst we look up, marveling how he has escaped us, and thinking how we could worship him and love him, would he but translate his visions into human words, and his experiences into human actions. Perhaps he cannot; certainly he does not, or does so very seldom. Lucy had done so never. . . . She was no dazzling executante; her runs were not at all like strings of pearls, and she struck no more right notes than was suitable for one of her age and situation. Nor was she the passionate young lady, who performs so tragically on a summer's evening with the window open . . . And she was tragical only in the sense that she was great, for she loved to play on the side of Victory. Victory of what and over what - that is more than the words of daily life can tell us. But that some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic no one can gainsay; yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and Lucy decided that they should triumph.”

MusicMusicianPiano PlayingP 28
Book:A Room with a View
Create image

“I saw myself as a person that wanted to build their own house and was aware that I needed to have all the skills and know-how of house building. I knew I needed to learn everything from design to bricklaying to painting to electrics if I wanted to have the house that I envisioned. I am a very much a hands-on person and I learn from doing. Hopefully I can now pass on some of what I have learned on to you.”

WritingMusicProjectsEntertainmentTheatrePerformanceArtsProductionProducerTheatre Direction
Book:The Guerrilla Guide To Being A Theatrical Producer
Create image