The Teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan
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Q. The most civilized have been the most conventional people. How does it come that the artist generally is not conventional at all? A. The artist lives in his own world. The greater the artist, the more he has his own world. He does not live in the world. All those who live in their own world, they are out of the world, they have a civilization of their own. But when it comes to the question of the worldly life, life in the midst of the world, there comes the question of conventionality. He cannot ignore conventionality, and at the same time live in the midst of the world. Paderewski did not have time enough to comb his hair. That is another thing. But I do not think that he could have come as a President, without brushing his hair. As an artist it is all right. But as a man in the midst of the world, he has a world to face. |