"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."
"The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than to keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered."
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Source: 'Notebooks' (1912) ch. 17
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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."
"Don't learn to do, but learn in doing."