Don’t be vain because you happen to have talent. You are not responsible for that; it was not of your doing. What you do with your talent is what matters.
Pablo Casals (1876-1973) Spanish cellist, conductor, composer
“Salute to Life” (1969)
Quotations by:
Casals, Pablo
I have always regarded technique as a means, not an end in itself. One must, of course, master techniques; at the same time, one must not become enslaved by it — one must understand that the purpose of technique is to transmit the inner meaning, the message, of the music. The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all.
Pablo Casals (1876-1973) Spanish cellist, conductor, composer
Joys and Sorrows, ch. 5 (1970) [with Albert E. Kahn]
(Source)
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children in school? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. And look at your body — what a wonder it is! Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the ways you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work — we must all work — to make the world worthy of its children.
Pablo Casals (1876-1973) Spanish cellist, conductor, composer
In Joys and Sorrows: Reflections by Pablo Casals as told to Albert E. Kahn (1970)
The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
Pablo Casals (1876-1973) Spanish cellist, conductor, composer
In Joys and Sorrows: Reflections by Pablo Casals as told to Albert E. Kahn (1970)