"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."
"Adversity, if a man is set down to it by degrees, is more supportable with equanimity by most people than any great prosperity arrived at in a single lifetime."
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Source: 'The Way of All Flesh' (1903) ch. 5
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"Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning."
"If I die prematurely at any rate I shall be saved from being bored to death by my own success."
"Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule."
"Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud."
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