Quote of the Day

Your instincts are composed.  They're affected by what you practice, by what you think about, by what you hear, by what you talk about.  And they change.  And they develop.  And they hopefully get better. 

-- Phillip Golub

Quote of the Day

(The Westerlies' album Paradise) asks the question of what paradise means, and to us it's gathering around art and fostering empathy, which is something music instinctually does.  With the state of division especially in the U.S. today, that feels more important that ever.

-- Andy Clausen

Quote of the Day

A piece of art doesn't have to be a piece of art for everybody.  It does not have to cause feelings in everyone.

Art doesn't have to be eternal.  There could be something that works as art for a few people for a few weeks, for a lot of people for a hundred years, for one person for a lifetime, for a small number of people for a thousand years.  There are all sorts of levels.

It is always a conversation, even if there is only one person involved in the conversation.  You might make art as a conversation with yourself.

-- Brian Eno and Bette A., What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory

Quote of the Day

Sometimes you can take the whole of the world in, and sometimes you need a small piece to take in.  I think that is really what a work of art is: it is a small piece that you can ingest, that gives you an idea of the richness of the whole.

-- Sister Mary Corita Kent

Quote of the Day

Well, somebody can take your publishing and somebody can take your records or take your songs or take whatever money you've made out of the thing, but you can drop me out of an airplane anywhere in most parts of the world, I'll land, and I'll light up somebody's night.

-- Bruce Springsteen 

Quote of the Day

You know, musicians have a tremendous responsibility.  At the very least, bring comfort to people in chaotic and confusing times.  But if you can also give them some affirmation, let them know they're not alone -- a lot of people are struggling in these times...

-- Don Was 

Quote of the Day

A poet makes science out of everything the scientist ignores.

-- Callum Angus, "Moon Snail"

Quote of the Day

We live in such a fast-paced world: poetry helps us slow down, deepen our attention, connect and live more fully.

-- Arthur Sze

Quote of the Day

A protester made a sign at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 that said, "This is the age of rage and tenderness."  It encapsulated to me the feeling of the times.  Sometimes, it feels like there's waves of evil coming towards you, and you have to combat those by being a decent person and standing up for people who cannot stand up for themselves.  But to do that, you have to be open to those feelings.  You can't shut yourself off if you don't want to get steamrolled by racists and sexists and fascists.  There's a lot to rage against, and it's because you have some kind of love in your heart that you want to fight.

-- Tunde Adebimpe

Quote of the Day

Women who wear black lead colorful lives.

-- Neiman Marcus

Quote of the Day

Let your heart break so your spirit doesn't.

-- Andrea Gibson 

Quote of the Day

And then there's a moment where you're in your kitchen, you're listening to the news and you think, "Does it really matter to write a poem?"  When what we need is so huge, what we need is so monumental.  The collective action that is required in this moment.  And then you think, "What if poetry can bring you back to wonder, to kindness, to care, to sensitivity, to tenderness?"  And even in that small moment, isn't that a radical act?

 -- Ada Limon